


Workouts and Babbles

by ElasticMonk



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: BAMF Thea Queen, F/M, Grandmama Smoak, Iris the bestie that lives in CC, Mayor Oliver Queen, Sara's a badass, Tommy Merlyn Lives, Vice President Felicity Smoak of Palmer Technologies, alternate universe - no green arrow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2019-11-12 14:36:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18012719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElasticMonk/pseuds/ElasticMonk
Summary: Oliver comes to the rescue of one cute blonde at his gym just as Felicity stumbles upon one handsome mayor at her gym. They both have something in common, but will it bring them happiness?





	1. Workouts & Babbles

Oliver pulled the dumbbell over his head just as Sara jerked the other half of the workout band attached to a heavy bar back causing a tension to create. Then they moved their objects in a downward motion before thrusting them up and back. This was normal weekday morning routine. They’d both run six miles on the treadmill before moving to weight training. Today was arms.

No one was in the gym except them. Though, Oliver knew his son was in the kid’s area downstairs. Usually William stayed at the loft with Raisa or Thea, but today he’d been awake and interested in going to the gym. Oliver wanted to show him what he and Sara did each day, but the gym’s front desk was very strict in saying he had to be twelve to go into the gym. He could, however, play in the kids’ gym.

Oliver felt terrible leaving him in the little plush area but William sparked up once he spotted the trampolines and foam pit. A woman had come in to keep him company since at six in the morning there were no other kids there.

“Do you think we should end soon?” Oliver asked.

“Ollie,” Sara huffed. “He’s fine. You told me that he ran over to the trampolines. And didn’t you say there was a tv in there?”

“Yeah, but-.”

“No. No buts. You’ve ditched the past four days and you practically died on cardio this morning.”

“I haven’t wanted to leave Will,” Oliver grumbled. Sara knew this though. He always ditched morning workouts when he had William.

“I know, Ollie. But showing him that you take care of yourself is important too. Come on, let’s practice some boxing.” She moved over to the empty mat and picked up her pads. Oliver huffed but pulled on his gloves.

He was in the middle of beating the life out of Sara’s pads when they heard the door to the gym open and close. Sara looked up and smiled over to the person, but Oliver didn’t let up and Sara didn’t miss any of his hits.

“Come on, Ollie, focus,” Sara coached as he got distracted from the sound of the person who entered starting to run on a treadmill. Oliver took a step back and huffed in annoyance. Sara lifted a brow and tilted her head. Oliver chuckled.

“You’ve gotten to become quite the personal trainer, Sara,” he teased. Sara rolled her eyes. She wiggled the pads on her hands but Oliver ripped off his gloves.

“We’re not done yet, Ollie,” Sara warned. Oliver nodded but took off his shirt the sweat soaked item had started to make him uncomfortable as it moved with his hits. Sara’s eyes roamed over him. He smirked at her and she flicked her eyes upward in a roll. She wiggled her pads once he had his gloves on again. She led him in a circle and by the time he was facing the treadmills, they were practically sparring.

“Holy…” then there was a thud and a skit and another big thud. Oliver saw a blonde trip onto her face and then get pushed by the treadmill onto the ground. He charged past Sara without a second glance and was over to her in second.

“Hey,” he panted. She looked up at him with dazed eyes then grimaced and reached for her hip. “You okay?” Oliver asked eyes roaming over her body in inspection, and admiration if he was being honest. His hands came out to touch her shoulder. There was a pulse of something at the touch of his bare hand to the skin of her shoulder. She whimpered and he frowned in response. “Are you hurt?” he asked slowly.

“Um…” she looked up at the ceiling and thought before answering with, “Bruised but probably fine. I mean bruised isn’t really being hurt is it? Well technically it is being hurt because you know, bruises are pools of blood inside your body just under your skin where blood isn’t supposed to be but… not. Nothing’s broken.” Oliver found himself stifling a chuckle and smiling down at her.

“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?” Sara asked from behind them. The woman blushed deeply.

“Nope. That’s me. Babbler.”

“Well I’m Oliver. Oliver Queen.” Oliver held out his hand and stood next to her. She eyed it for a second before taking it. He hauled her to her feet, rather easily and she audibly gasped before her face flushed red at the noise.

“Felicity Smoak,” she greeted a breathlessly.

“Sara Lance.” Sara waved one of her padded hands. Felicity smiled over at her. Oliver released her hand a little too slowly for Sara not to smirk at him. Oliver ignored her and eyed Felicity.

“You sure you don’t need ice?”

“No. I fall all the time. Just usually not in front of Oliver Queen.” Oliver smiled sheepishly. “The mayor,” Felicity added looking to the ground.

“He’s not just the mayor,” Sara teased. “He’s also single.” Felicity’s jaw dropped. Oliver’s tightened.

“Sara,” Oliver growled. Sara leaned on his shoulder, a tad of a challenge with their height different, and grinned over at Felicity.

“Um…” Felicity looked anywhere but Oliver.

“Right.” Sara nodded abandoning her position against Oliver. “I’m going to get you some ice, because your hip is bruised badly.” Sara pointed to the nicely sized purple bruise poking out of the waistband Felicity’s leggings. Felicity trailed her hands from below her sports bra to her hip. She flinched.

“Come sit down, Felicity,” Oliver murmured motioning to the chair next to the gym doors. He herded her to the chair. “Sorry about Sara.”

“Oh, it’s fine.” Felicity waved her hand around as if to wave the subject away. “My friend Curtis does the same thing.”

“Really? Maybe they’d make a good pair then.” Felicity burst out into laughter. Oliver leaned slightly away from her.

“Sorry. It’s just. He’s gay.” She sobered quickly. “And married,” she whispered with a look of horror on her face.

“Who’s married?” Sara asked coming in with a bag of ice wrapped in a paper towel.

“My friend Curtis.” Sara looked slightly relieved at that and handed the ice over. Felicity carefully set it on her hip.

“Did Ollie play nicely?” Sara teased. Oliver sighed loudly. Felicity smirked, however, and he felt his heart pick up at the sight.

“Yes. He was a gentleman. Led me to a chair and everything.”

“If you need anything, let us know. Sara?” Oliver asked tilting his head to the mat. Sara nodded and followed him. Felicity watched them spar for a few moments before getting back up and moving to the bikes. Oliver kept her in the corner of his eye.

Roughly thirty minutes later, Oliver and Sara were toweling off as Felicity wiped down her machine. She grimaced as soon as she put weight on her injured leg. Sara nudged Oliver in the side. He glared at her.

“We usually come in every weekday morning,” Sara said once Felicity was in hearing range. Felicity nodded, eyebrows raised.

“Good for you. I manage twice a week or something.” She scuffed her foot on the ground.

“You could join us, if you want,” Sara added. Felicity’s eyes widened.

“Oh. Um. Every day?”

“You don’t have to,” Oliver quickly injected. Felicity’s eyes flicked over to him. She nodded as if to say thank you. Oliver’s lips curled slightly, almost a smile.

“Maybe I’ll see you around?” Sara smiled and nodded. Oliver nudged Sara along out of the gym door and into the entrance hall. They bid their goodbyes quickly and Oliver moved down to the stairs.

…

Felicity half limped half jogged down to the kids gym. She opened the door and spotted her son, and the other little boy in the play area. She felt the rock that had been sitting in her stomach disappear when she saw the older boy shouting out a number as Lincoln jumped into the foam pit.

“What’s that?” Link asked.

“Eight!” the boy called.

“Your turn,” Link said as he climbed out of the pit. The other boy started to jump on the trampoline next to the pit. He waited until Link was out of the pit before jumping in the shape of a karate stance.

“Nine!” Lincoln called.

Felicity heard a gasp behind her. She twirled around and saw Oliver Queen standing behind her. She waved and stepped into the play area leaving the door open for him.

“I’m so sorry for Sara,” he said lowly. “If I’d known you were.”

“Not married?” Felicity tilted her head. Oliver paused and eyed her left hand.

“Oh.” Felicity saw something flash over his face. She smiled and turned back to what was their two boys playing and laughing.

“Mommy!” Lincoln shouted from his perch on the trampoline.

“Hi, Dad,” the other boy called with a wave. Oliver smiled wide at his son. Felicity felt her heart speed up at the sight. Single with a son, both of them. Plus he was super-hot. Yeah, she’d totally go on a date with him. That was if he’d ask. Cause really, what was the point of falling on your face because you thought, ‘ _holy shit abs_!’ as soon as he took his shirt off and turned toward her, if you didn’t say yes to a date from the guy with the holy-shit-abs.

“Hi, William.”

“Can we play more?” Lincoln whined.

“Please, Dad,” William begged. Felicity opened her mouth then looked over at Oliver. He waited for a moment then looked down at her. He started at her raised brow.

“I heard there’s really good smoothies upstairs. Do you want to…” Oliver looked over her shoulder in thought. “Go try some?” He looked displeased at that wording.

“Link, I’ll be back in…”

“Twenty?” Lincoln supplied.

“Yep,” Felicity popped the P. She turned toward the door as soon as the boys began their game again, Lincoln jumping into the pit and William shouting out a score. Oliver was already holding it open for her. He was silent for a while before running a hand over his scruff.

“I’ve never been on out with someone while this sweaty before,” he mumbled. Felicity broke out into laughter.

“I would agree. Usually showered, makeup on, oh no. I don’t have makeup on.” Felicity raised her hands to her face. Oliver smiled down at her.

“Don’t worry, you still look beautiful.” A blush spread across her cheeks. When was the last time someone called her beautiful? They waited a few moments before someone came to take their smoothie orders. "I'll have the Glow Green Smoothie."

"Really? Spinach, kale, and cucumber?" Felicity asked in horror.

"I like it. It's good for you too," Oliver defended lightly. "What are _you_ having?" 

"The Chocolate Powerhouse." She smirked over at him. He shook his head with a slight smile adorning his face.

"Protein powder?" Felicity arched a brow. "How is that worse than greens?"

"It tastes like chocolate." Felicity shrugged then grinned. Oliver rolled his eyes then remembered who he was with and sat up straighter. Felicity mirrored him and sobered a bit.  

“Where do you work?” Oliver asked. 

“Palmer Technologies.” Oliver raised his brow. “I used to work for your company, Queen Consolidated. In the information technology department.” Oliver furrowed his brow for a moment. “IT.” He nodded again and looked a little embarrassed. “Yeah. I used to work there. Best in the department. Then Ray. I mean. Dr. Palmer bought the company after you… your… you lost it. And he then hired me as Vice President. So now I’m Vice President have been for a year and a half.”

“Wow. That’s impressive. I heard the company is working more on what used to be the Applied Sciences division.”

“Yes,” and they talked about Felicity’s job for a good fifteen minutes, their smoothies coming and being sucked down, until Felicity realized she’d talked the whole time. “What about you? What’s it like being the mayor?”

“Well. It’s a lot of press conferences, banquets, and birthday parties.” Felicity raised her brow in shock.

“Birthday parties?” she questioned with a laugh.

“Yes. I recently attended a woman who turned ninety-eight, a man who turned ninety-nine, and I gave a speech at a local leader’s.”

“How old were they?”

“Fifty-two?” Felicity grinned with a laugh. Oliver laughed too.

“Do you have as much power as we’re led to believe?” Felicity questioned with a tilt of her head telling him she was teasing him but also she really wanted to know. Oliver furrowed his brow and shook his head.

“My sister probably holds more power than me, but that’s probably because she understands politics better than me. She’s my chief of staff.”

“What’s her name?”

“Thea.”

“Right. Thea Queen.”

“How old is Link?”

“Lincoln is six. I had him at twenty. I know young, but there are... How old is William?” Felicity played with her smoothie cup.

“William is nine. I was twenty-two." Felicity smiled slightly pleased he added that detail. "But um… I didn’t know about him for several years. I found out about him two years ago. It’s um… it’s complicated.” Oliver looked over her shoulder. Felicity nodded seriously.

“Of course, you don’t have to talk about it.” Oliver smiled tightly.

“Thank you,” he softly spoke.

“I’ve been uh a single mom Lincoln’s full life. I ended up like my mother after all.” She laughed dryly then knitted her brow and looked at her hands as they gripped each other tightly. “Which you don’t need to hear about yet. Probably ever.” Oliver reached a hand out and grabbed hers pulling them apart gently.

“If you want to tell me, I’d be happy to hear.” Felicity took a deep breath but smiled and looked at her lap.

“Thank you, but for a first date that’s not really appropriate.” Then her eyes widened. “When I said date, I meant not a date date but like a…” Oliver chuckled. Felicity cringed deeply and curled into herself slightly.

“This is a date, Felicity. At least, I want it to be.” She let out a breath. Oliver frowned slightly as he looked behind her head. “It’s almost been twenty minutes.” Felicity checked her watch and nodded. Oliver’s eyes roamed over her face. She smiled happily up at him.

“It’s been nice to-.”

“Do you want to do this again?” Oliver blurted out. Felicity’s eyes widened.

“You mean, the workout or the smoothie bit?” Her mouth pursed into a pout and her brow furrowed into a line.

“Either. Both?” Felicity opened her mouth to reply when he added, “Neither. I meant. Go on another… get coffee sometime?” She smiled.

“That sounds great.” Oliver let out a sigh.

“Good.” They stared at each other for a few minutes. _Holy-shit-abs guy asked me out! To coffee!_

“We should.” She nodded to the stairs. Oliver nodded curtly and moved to the stairs before waiting for her, motioning for her to take the lead. He rested a hand on her lower back as she walked.

“Is this okay?” he murmured.

“Yeah.” She smiled over her shoulder at him. He relaxed his shoulders.

“Good.” Felicity felt heat rise in her cheeks and flutters in her chest. They opened the play area and there were two other kids there watching tv in the corner. Lincoln and William were pretending to be birds as they dove into the pit.

“Link,” Felicity called.

“Mommy, watch. Will let’s do it again.” They climbed on top of a small wall beside the pit.

“Dad, are you watching?” William asked.

“Watching, buddy,” Oliver replied.

“Mommy?” Lincoln asked.

“Yep.” They counted down from three before jumping. They tucked their elbows into their sides, tucked their knees to their chests, and flapped their hands back and forth like wings. They landed in the foam pit and laughter rolled out. The boys climbed out of the pit and walked over to get their shoes before going to their parents.

“Dad, can we play again some other time?” William asked.

“If Felicity’s okay with it, it’s okay with me.” Oliver looked to Felicity.

“Yeah, it’s, it’s okay with me.”

“Get his number!” Lincoln exclaimed. “Can we have your number?” Link blinked his big blue eyes up at Oliver. Oliver smiled and looked over at Felicity. She breathed out a laugh and stared into his eyes. Oliver lifted his brow and she blushed.

“Oh, right.” Felicity unzipped a pocket from her leggings and pulled out her phone. She handed it to Oliver and he quickly put his info in.

“You could have just called City Hall,” he mumbled teasingly.

“You could have called Palmer Tech,” she murmured with the same tone. He smirked at her and she shared it. He handed her phone back and she pushed it into the skintight pocket.

“I didn’t know there were pockets in leggings.”

“She has pockets all over they’re secrets,” Lincoln said patting Felicity’s legs. Oliver raised his brow. Felicity phone vibrated against her leg and ‘Wrecking Ball’ started to play from it. Felicity pulled her phone out of her pocket and answered.

“Hey, Curtis. … Yes I’m on my way to work. I’m going to be thirty minutes late. I still have to… yes I’ll look at the specs when I get there. Have you shown Dr. Palmer? … Have you tried his office? … Cell phone? … I’m on my way.” With that she hung up. “I’m sorry, we have to go.”

“Bye, Felicity. Bye, Link.”

“Bye, Mr….”

“Queen,” Felicity provided.

“Oliver,” Oliver corrected.

“Bye, Mr. Oliver.” Link waved and took Felicity’s hand. William bid goodbye and looked up at his father as if to ask why they weren’t leaving too. Felicity laughed and waved goodbye one last time before Lincoln tugged her away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have one of the ending chapters but I need to get all the middle chapters. It depends on time management and muse, don't hold your breath but also don't lose hope.  
> Tumblr: [arrow-insta-fakes-au](https://arrow-insta-fakes-au.tumblr.com)


	2. Coffee Dates and Lunch Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy ribs Oliver, Curtis questions Felicity, and Oliver and Felicity settle into this dating thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm blown away by the response to the first chapter! Thank you all SO much! This chapter came a lot sooner than I thought it would. I've been fiddling with it until I finally felt at peace. I hope you enjoy it!  
> All mistakes are mine, only character that belongs to me in Lincoln.

**Coffee Dates & Lunch Dates**

“Is it true someone passed out because you took your shirt off?” Oliver’s head shot up from his paperwork about the new wifi plan for the parks. Tommy Merlyn stood laughing in the doorway of Oliver’s office. Oliver opened his mouth to respond but Tommy continued with, “Wouldn’t be a first but then again must be an ego boost.” He walked in and plopped down on Oliver’s office couch.

“She didn’t pass out; she just fell,” Oliver replied.

“Yes, right. On a treadmill.” Tommy grinned. Oliver sighed. “What’s her name? Was she hot? Sara said she’s hot. Did you get her number?”

“Of course Sara told you,” Oliver murmured. He stood and walked over to stand in front of Tommy stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Come on, man. This is the best action you’ve seen in months. Please, please, please tell me you got her number. I heard she got flustered and talked a lot. Perfect for you cause you never talk. Just like me and you.” Tommy sighed happily. Oliver stared pointedly. “Come on, details, Ollie.”

“I did get her number.” Oliver smiled happily reminiscing of the moment when her adorable son asked for his number then a few minutes after they said goodbye he’d gotten a flirty, **_looking forward to coffee, Mayor Handsome_**.

“So what are you going for? Hookup, few dates, relationship, marriage?” Oliver’s eyes widened. Tommy laughed. “Dude, I’m joking, on the last one.”

“I… I like her. We’re going for coffee sometime.”

“Coffee?” Tommy asked wiggling his brow. “Or coffee?” He set his face seriously.

“Just coffee, Tommy. Then at some point we’ll get our kids together for a playdate.” Tommy let out a breath and placed a hand on his chest leaning back into the couch heavily.

“Oh thank God. She won’t freak out when she finds out you have a kid.” Oliver frowned.

“What?” A little line appeared in his brow. Tommy opened his eyes then leaned his elbows on his knees.

“Ollie, you gotta know that when you drop the bomb that you have a kid, people freak out.” Oliver continued to look bewildered. “Susan Williams? Mckenna Hall? Do I need to elaborate?” Oliver sighed.

“That’s not why Mckenna and I broke up. She got shot on duty and had to move to Coast City to live with her sister. She had actually taken the news of Will good. She’d asked me if it changed things and I said I didn’t know and she didn’t push. She was willing to wait for me to decide what to do, then she got shot.”

“Oh. Sorry, Ollie.” Tommy stood and clapped a hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “But Susan Williams?” Oliver raised a brow and tilted his head.

“Yeah, that was because Will and Samantha were moving to town.”

“No one liked her anyways.” Oliver glared at Tommy. Tommy took a step back. “I mean, such a shame. But this one. She’s good? What’s her name? Fiona or something?”

“Felicity.” Tommy grinned. “Felicity Smoak.”

“That’s a good name. I would ask if she’s hot but considering you asked her out, I don’t need to. Wow. You asked her out after she fell on a treadmill. She must really be smoking.” Tommy chuckled then bent over and held his side. “Get it. Smoking. Like Smoak.” Oliver sighed but a smirk appeared on his lips.

“Dad puns already, Merlyn? Isn’t that a bit soon? Still have three months until the wedding.”

“You know I’m always up for a dad joke.” Tommy puffed out his chest. “And one day it’ll be my job. But _not_ now.” Tommy let out a breath then grinned crinkling his eyes. Oliver laughed and patted Tommy’s back in return.

“Soon you’ll be a part of the dad club.”

“Hey, Ollie,” a head poked through Oliver’s office door.

“Lifesaver!” Tommy shouted rushing over and kissing Thea Queen’s cheeks. Thea furrowed her brow. She eyed Tommy conspicuously at his actions. “I’ve gotta run. See you later,” Tommy called as he rushed away.

“Yes, Thea?” Oliver asked.

“Why was Tommy here?”

“Why can’t my best friend stop by for a visit?” Thea huffed in disappointment.

“Oh brother of mine, one day you will learn that those answers won’t stop me from asking around.” Oliver stared blankly at her. “I’m here to drop by the papers for the Myers proposal.” Oliver took them. Thea gave him one more look of determination before turning on her heel and leaving. She poked her head in a few seconds later. “I’ll just ask Will.” With that she was gone.

…

“Who are you texting?” Curtis asked poking his head around the shelves when he heard the tapping of keys on Felicity’s phone. Felicity jerked and hid her phone behind her back. Curtis laughed nervously. “Or never mind.”  

“It’s just someone I met at the gym,” Felicity rushed. Curtis nodded raising his eyebrows. “I fell running on the treadmill because he took his shirt off and I mean, his abs.” Felicity blushed and shut her mouth.

“Is that why you were thirty minutes late yesterday?”

“What? Oh… yeah that’s, that’s why.” Felicity’s phone buzzed again. She ignored in and also ignored Curtis’ expectant look.

They went over the specs for the new design Curtis had. He pointed out a few issues that he needed an idea or two on and Felicity rattled off whatever was at the top of her mind. As soon as Curtis said he thought they covered everything, she skipped out of his workspace. She ignored the snickering and made her way to her office. She pulled her phone out and saw a few texts from **Mayor Handsome**.

**_What are you doing for lunch?_ **

**_Or after 1:30? We can get a coffee._ **

She felt her heart flutter at his eagerness.

She replied with, **_I’m free for a 30min lunch_**.

**Mayor Handsome- _How do you feel about Big Belly Burger?_**

**_You trying to win my heart?_** The second she pressed send her heart jump into her throat with nerves.

**Mayor Handsome- _maybe ;)_**

Felicity felt butterflies wreak havoc on her stomach. They sent a few more flirty texts before he had a meeting to get to and she realized she should probably get some work done before their lunch.

…

Oliver rubbed his fingers with his thumb and bounced his knee under the table. He didn’t know why he was so nervous. It was just a lunch date. He’d done this plenty of times. There was just something… different about this woman. She’d made him laugh easily and he didn’t feel like he had to impress her.

Ever since he found out about William he’d only been looking for serious girlfriends, well if he was being honest ever since he started to run for mayor he knew he should only have serious relationships with women. He didn’t want to be known for the person he was in the past. He wanted to be taken seriously and if he was being honest, he wanted the stability of a relationship.

He’d gotten a taste of something stable with Mckenna in the few short months they dated. He tried doing the same with Susan, which ended up failing. But he was hopeful for something real with Felicity. They had a connect, and an obvious attraction.

“Oliver?” His head shot up from looking at the table. He smiled and looked her over. She had on black and orangey brown glasses, her hair was down and in curly waves, and she was wearing a flowery top with a dark skirt.

“Felicity,” he replied. She smiled at him then blushed slightly as he continued to eye her. When she reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear, he snapped out of it and cleared his throat. “You want to order?” he asked nodding to the cashier. Felicity nodded. They stood side by side as Felicity ordered then she dug in her purse for her card which was when Oliver swiped his card and ordered for himself.

“Oh, you don’t have to-.”

“I want to.” He smiled. Felicity caught his eye trying to tell him it really wasn’t necessary, when he shrugged. “Call me old fashion.” Felicity’s eyes narrowed then she turned back to the cashier and pursed her lips to avoid a smile.

“I’ll treat next time.” She flicked her gaze over to him and he smiled brightly at her. She pushed down that fist bump that wanted to come up and looked down at her hands.

They were given their drinks and told their number for when their burgers would be done. It didn’t necessarily occur to Oliver that Big Belly Burger wasn’t exactly the impression he wanted to give, until they sat down and a group of rowdy teenagers came in along with a mother to two toddlers. Felicity didn’t seem to mind, telling him how Lincoln hated cucumbers but loved pickles on his burgers. He chuckled when she mimicked Lincoln’s facial reaction when she told him pickles were cucumbers brined in vinegar.

After they got their burgers, Oliver cleared his throat before saying, “Felicity, I’d like to take you out somewhere nicer.” She raised her brow and her eyes expanded behind her glasses.

“I have to get back to work in twenty minutes. If not, I would love to but-.”

“No, I know. I want to take you out for dinner somewhere. Saturday?” He tilted his head. Felicity smiled.

“Yeah,” she brightly replied. She popped a fry into her mouth and Oliver started to eat his burger, prompting her to do the same.

Halfway into their burgers, Felicity accidentally brushed her shoe against his shin and paused during a bite, long enough to make eye contact then break it abruptly. Oliver inched his foot closer to hers until he tapped her shoe. She again paused during a bite and made eye contact, this time a realization occurring on her face. Oliver kept his face blank. She double tapped her foot on his shoe without meeting his eye. He arched a brow and responded by doing the same.

“These are expensive, mister.” She mockingly glared at him.

“Who said my shoes weren’t expensive?” he calmly asked tilting his head with the tease. Her lips rounded in embarrassment. Oliver smiled at her trying to put her at ease again. “It’s okay, I’ll just get them shined.” She shot him a look that said, ‘ _really?’_ He shrugged in response.

“Do you have a shoe shine guy?”

“Just the guy at city hall Wednesdays.”

“Oh.” She took the last bite of her burger and wiped her hands on a napkin. Oliver finished his own food and she grabbed her purse. “Too bad you’ll have to wait a week for that shoe shine.” She winked at him and he chuckled as he watched her blink both eyes and pinched one cheek up.

“As long as I don’t have to wait a week to see you,” he replied as they stood. She hesitated for a moment a little shock flashing over her face. Oliver felt his heart pound in his chest. Her shock disappeared.

“I don’t think you’ll have to wait that long,” she replied surprising herself at the confidence her voice held because she really wanted to say, _holy frack he actually wants to do this again even though I did my impression of Link’s grossed out face._

Oliver opened the door for her and she quietly thanked him. He cleared his throat as he stepped through the door and beside her. “Can I walk you to your car?” he asked.

“Lead the way.” She cringed and touched her forehead. “No. You don’t know where I parked. I’ll lead the way.” Oliver laughed silently and followed her. It took a few steps before she dropped her hand down, and he took the opportunity to brush his fingers against hers. She peered down and back at his hand with the curve of a smile on her lips.

He brushed their fingers again; she turned her palm to face him. He tangled their fingers together and she tugged him lightly forward. He felt a sense of calm resonate in his chest and he watched her walk confidently to her car. She must have felt his gaze, because she turned to smile back at him. It was like a burst of joy popped in his chest.

She stopped beside her car and he let out a sigh. She reluctantly let go of his hand to fish out her car keys. He placed his hand on the door handle and opened it for her once she unlocked the door. She turned back to him and opened her mouth before closing it and sticking a foot in the car.

“See you later?” Oliver asked hopefully.

“Definitely seeing you… later. Yep.” She swallowed nervously. Oliver’s eyes crinkled in laughter and he leaned in to kiss her cheek.

His stubble scratched her cheek; she gripped the door of her car hard, her thoughts going elsewhere. Before something untoward could pop out of her mouth she sat down in the driver’s seat. He carefully closed the door behind her and started to walk away.

He looked over his shoulder and waved. She chewed on her bottom lip to stop from hyperventilating or squealing or some mixture of the two. She did manage to wave back before he turned his head forward.

“God he’s going to be the death of me,” she mumbled starting her car.

…

Oliver checked his phone to see if there were any new messages. He had two from Thea about her leaving for work early because she needed to catch up on work but none from the person he really wanted to hear form.

So, he sent a quick, **_hey_**.

Felicity quickly replied with a gif of a whale waving its fin as it jumped out of the water and the words, **_whale hello there_**.

He laughed out loud at that. They sent a some flirty texts, but Felicity was swamped with work and Oliver was a little bummed to find out they couldn’t see each other.

The next day, Felicity offered to get coffee after dropping Link off at school and before she had her first meeting. Oliver jumped at the invitation. He proceeded to ask Thea which tie would look best for a coffee date.

“A coffee date?” Thea looked at him with a teasing grin. “Will I ever meet this woman?”

“Speedy, what tie works.” He held up a navy tie with light blue dots, and another navy tie with red dots. Thea furrowed her brow then laughed throwing her head back. “What?” Oliver asked a little embarrassed.

“The only difference is the color of the dots. Oh, Ollie. You got it bad.” She ended her cackles in a sigh and reached over to grab the blue dotted tie. “Brings out your eyes.” She wrapped it around his neck and made her way down the stairs.

Oliver pulled up to Jitters and spotted Felicity walking in the door. He jogged to the door before realizing he was jogging and abruptly stopping. What was wrong with him?

He lucked out and no one had gotten in line behind Felicity. He swallowed trying to fix his dry mouth and tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped slightly before twirling on her heel.

“Hi,” she greeted happily. A smile instantly grew on his face. They talked about their days as they waited for the line to dwindle. When they got up to order, Oliver tried pulling the move he had the other day, when Felicity offered a gift card to the barista. “And I’ll get the person behind me as well,” she smoothly said. Oliver grumbled. She turned around and leaned against the counter as he ordered, grinning the whole time.

“I could have paid for myself.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was a holiday gift card I got. I found it in the bottom of my purse the other day. Talk about a miracle. Not that I believe in miracles, well… I guess sometimes.” She tilted her head in thought and Oliver watched her with adoration.

Felicity and Oliver had just gotten their coffee orders and were just beginning to talk when someone called out, “Ollie Queen!” Oliver broke out into a smile just as Felicity’s heart started to pump in fear. They turned to see Tommy Merlyn swaggering over to their booth in the corner. Tommy clapped a hand over Oliver’s shoulder and grinned down at him before turning his gaze to Felicity. “Tommy Merlyn. This one’s better half.” Felicity looked to Oliver with a smirk that said _really?_

“My best friend since I was a kid. Tommy, this is Felicity Smoak.”

“So you’re _the_ Felicity Smoak,” Tommy said with awe. Felicity nodded and adjusted her glasses feeling a little nervous. After all Oliver Queen didn’t really go for blondes with glasses. “Do you liked baked goods?” Tommy asked. Felicity was a little taken aback.

“Um.” She looked to Oliver who was bowing his head.

“Cause Ollie here _loves_ to bake.”

“Really?” Oliver lifted his head and he looked slightly mortified. Felicity smiled and stifled a laugh. “Well I do love a good muffin with my coffee.”

“You’re going to think you died and went to heaven when you taste Ollie’s banana nut muffin.”

“I probably will actually die,” she quipped with a laugh. They both looked at her with alarm. “Oh! Yeah, I’m allergic to nuts.”

“Then you’ll love his blueberry muffins. Or chocolate chip. Oh wait.” Tommy turned completely to Oliver. “Have you made any more of your coffee cake?” Oliver shook his head slowly before laughing slightly. “Next time you do make some for Laurel and me.” He turned back to Felicity. “Neither of us are very good cooks. We usually get take-out that is unless we manage to sneak into one of Oliver’s home cooked meals.” Tommy sighed and closed his eyes happily. “His chicken piccata is perfect.”

“Okay, Tommy, stop dreaming about my food.” Oliver shoved Tommy’s hand off his shoulder. Tommy pouted for a second before chuckling over at Felicity.

“Nice to meet you, Felicity. Hopefully we will meet again.” He winked at her then in a flurry was out of the coffee shop.

“So Tommy’s-.”

“Tommy,” Oliver explained. Felicity fought a losing battle with a grin. Oliver’s eyes crinkled with his own. They both felt an odd feeling, smiling this much in such a short amount of time, but both put it on the pros list.

“So. Um… I was thinking,” Felicity started. Oliver gave her his full attention. “There’s no good way to put this,” she murmured. A chill dragged down his back. “I. Don’t think the kids need to know we’re… seeing each other,” Felicity stumbled with her words. Oliver looked her way and saw she was pursing her lips and looking at him with worry.

“I understand that.”

“It’s just. I mean. Are we serious? Like. Are we going to attempt to be in a relationship or is this just like a quick fling?” Felicity asked tilting her head to the side and biting her lip.

“I.. thought-.”

She cut him off with, “No, of course. Right, no. I’m okay with that. I just needed to know.” She took a sip of her coffee.

“What?” Oliver asked worriedly. He reached out and placed his hand over hers. “No, Felicity. I was going to say I thought it was clear I _really_ like you and I’d like to… be in a relationship with you. At least date you, unless you’re not interested in a relationship. I thought it was clear, I don’t think I’ve ever texted someone as much as I’ve texted you.”

“What?” She flushed at the squeakiness of her voice. She cleared her throat. “That’s. Yeah. I’d.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes at herself. “I’d like that,” she finally said. Oliver stared at her, eyes flicking back and forth between the pair of hers, and she started. “Dating,” she blurted. He nodded. “I. I haven’t been in a relationship in a _long_ time.” He nodded in understanding.

“Dating is good.” He smiled his nerves abiding. She mirrored him turning her hand over so their palms brushed. Conversation went easily after that, their hands interlocked, and coffees somewhat forgotten.

Oliver was in the midst of telling a story about William when Felicity’s phone rang. She jumped slightly, squeezed his hand, and then grabbed her phone.

“Hello? … what time is it? … I’ll be right there.” She hung up. “It looks like we lost track of time.” Oliver checked his watch and coughed at the time.

“Thea is going to kill me.” With that they both stood and made their way to the door.

“I hope not,” Felicity quipped. Oliver smiled over at her. “Because then what would I do on Saturday?” She smirked coyly. He gave her a fake laugh which turned her coy smirk into a full blown pleased smile. Her hand gripped his forearm.

They made it to the door and she shuffled her feet. He watched her for a moment. “See you Saturday?” he asked.

“Mmmhm. Can’t wait.” They got caught up looking at each other not noticing anything outside their little bubble until someone cleared their throat.

“Can you move? You’re in the middle of the doorway.” They stepped back from one another, somehow having moved into each other’s personal space.

“I’ll… see you Saturday,” Felicity said. Oliver nodded. He watched her turn and walk to her car before he walked to his. He couldn’t wait until Saturday.

Felicity got in her car and let out a sigh. She closed her eyes and dropped her head against the headrest a silly smile appearing on her face. Saturday couldn’t come quick enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> I have no idea when the next chapter will be posted. I've got a good portion written I just need to tie things together but tying things together is becoming frustrating, I'm getting there. Good news is I've got a majority of this story outlined now and parts of chapters written.  
> Feel free to comment, they are nice and feed my writing most the time.


	3. Babysitters and Date Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity have their first date night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for such a great response to this story! Here's an extra long chapter. I hope you enjoy it!  
> All mistakes are mine.  
> Reminder: Don't do what Felicity does in this chapter. Don't go to a park or surprise location with someone you don't know. This is fictional so it's romanticized. Keep safe.

**Babysitters & Date Nights**

Oliver’s phone rang just as he opened the door to see Sara, dressed in sweats and holding a garment bag. He let her in and locked the door before pulling out his phone. His face lit up at the picture of Felicity on his phone.

“Hi, I’ll be there in an hour or two,” he answered.

“ _My babysitter canceled so I can’t go out tonight_.” He could practically see her cringing. He saw Sara eyeing him, probably internally making fun of the stupid grin he had on as he answered the phone.

“Sara’s free,” popped out of his mouth before he could stop it. Sara shot Oliver a glare that could slice through a brick with one punch.

“Oliver,” Sara snarled.

“ _Sara’s what? You mean Sara babysits?"_

“Yes, Felicity, Sara babysits. Isn’t that right, Sara?” He put the phone on speaker phone. He worried his brow awaiting her voice. Her glare crumbled, she’d been rooting for this date for the past week. Saying it was stupid that they didn’t just do dinner a week ago. She and Thea had been teasing him on how he was much happier the past few days. He didn’t even do his normal brooding when William went back to Samantha’s. 

Sara sighed before answering, “Yeah. I babysit Will sometimes.”

“She also used to babysit in high school. She was the go-to babysitter for like ten different families,” Oliver added.

“ _Really?_ ” Felicity asked hopefully. “ _You wouldn’t mind, Sara?_ ” That’s when Sara’s glare came back.

Oliver mouthed, “I’d owe you."

“No. I wouldn’t mind,” Sara replied flatly.

“ _Wait. It’s Saturday. Your telling me you don’t have plans?_ ” Sara looked from the garment bag to Oliver.

Oliver mouthed, “Please.”

“My plans were to go to a club, let guys by me drinks, and maybe take someone home but I’ll just tell Thea I’m doing a favor for her big bro and his hot date,” Sara answered.

“ _Oh. You really don’t have to, Sara. If Oliver’s pressuring you-._ ”

Sara cut her off with, “Jeez. You two need to get laid. Oliver will drop me off so I can watch your kid. And don’t worry I know how to tired him out.”

“ _What?_ ” Felicity squeaked probably picturing boxing lessons in her living room.

“Karate, yoga, and then meditation. Do you have any long sticks we could use as swords?” Oliver rolled his eyes.

“ _No?_ ” Felicity replied as if she’d never thought of owning anything like that. Sara stifled a laugh.

“I’ll just bring two of Oliver’s.” Oliver shook his head. Sara walked over to Oliver. “Kay nice chat. We’ll see you soon.” She hovered her finger over the end call button. She stared at Oliver for a moment.

“See you soon, Felicity,” he quipped.

“ _What should I wear-_.”

Sara interrupted with, “Wear a nice dress. Byeeee.” And she hung up. “You owe me, Ollie.”

“What’s your rate?”

“Nice bottle of scotch, two tickets to the next fight, and...” she tapped her chin. “50 bucks.” Oliver rolled his eyes and stood to grab his wallet. Sara grinned watching him go.

…

“You’re not Grace,” Lincoln stated as soon as Sara walked through the door. Sara looked from Link to Felicity.

“No. This is Sara. I met her at the gym the other day. She’s going to babysit you tonight,” Felicity answered.

“Lincoln?” Sara asked. Link nodded narrowing his eyes as he looked Sara over.

“Okay, so bedtime is eight. Chicken nuggets are defrosting in the kitchen. Link knows how to microwave the mac and cheese. I’ll be back…”

“I’m free till noon tomorrow.” Sara flashed a toothy smile. Felicity choked on air and coughed.

“You’re not coming back tonight?” Link asked. Felicity’s face flushed as she continued to cough. Sara patted her on the back.

“I.” Cough. “I’ll be.” Cough, cough. She wheezed and gripped Sara’s shoulder. Sara scrunched up her face but held Felicity back. Finally Felicity got a clean breath in. She took a few deep breaths before facing her child. “I’ll come in and kiss you when I get home which will be later tonight when you’re in bed.” Lincoln smiled.

“Sara, do you want to play Mario Kart?”

“You have Mario Kart?” Sara was shocked.

“Yeah,” Link lightly answered.

“Wait. Game Cube or Switch?”

“Game cube. Mom fixed an old one. You can have the wireless controller if you want, but it’s not as good as the other ones.” Lincoln trailed off and walked into the living room.

Sara’s eyes roved over Felicity before she said, “Knock him dead.” She winked and followed Link.

Felicity tucked her hair behind her ear with a shaky hand. She checked her makeup in the mirror, grabbed her clutch, and opened the front door.

…

Oliver was leaning against a truck, just outside Felicity’s townhouse. He figured it wouldn’t be smart to greet her at the door considering they didn’t want the kids to know they were seeing each other.

He had just loosened his tie, for the third time, when her front door opened and he spotted golden hair and a red dress. The closer she got the more he noticed, from the deep v neck of the dress to her flashy earrings that he glimpsed through her hair.

“Hi,” she greeted.

“You look beautiful,” he slowly said. Felicity smiled a light blush coloring her cheeks.

“Thank you.” He opened her door and she slipped in.

His breath left him in a punch when he saw the cutouts in the back of her dress, revealing just enough of her back to make it interesting. He jogged around the car to get into his side not caring if he looked too excited.  

“Is this your truck?” she asked noticing the rainbow unicorn stickers on the backseat windows.    

“No. This is my friend Rene’s. He let me borrow it for tonight.”

“What are we doing?” She tilted her head skeptically.

“I made a reservation at a little Italian place I know. You said Italian was good, right?” He flexed his hands on the steering wheel.

“Yeah.” She licked her lips and waited for them to get out of her neighborhood. “What’s the truck for?”

“That’s a surprise.” She grimaced at that. “What? What’s wrong with that?” He frowned at her unpleased face.

“I don’t like surprises. I don’t like mysteries.”

“I think you’ll like this one.” Felicity stared at him pointedly. “Do you trust me?” He stopped at a light and looked her in the eye. His eyes were open and hopeful.

“Yes, I trust you,” she finally softly said. She turned back around to face the road. Oliver nodded. “Just don’t murder me in the middle of nowhere. Cause I really don’t want my mother taking care of Lincoln. Not that she’s not a great mom, she is. She just… You know what, not important. Italian. Dinner. And a… surprise,” she pushed the word out like it hurt. Oliver reached a hand over to her and she took his hand in hers.

“It’ll be good, promise. No murdering.” He smiled at her. She took a few calming breaths. The car ride was rather quiet. Oliver drove and Felicity tried to focus on the little circles he was rubbing on the back of her hand instead of what Lincoln and Sara might be doing.

It was like a whirlwind, one minute they were in the car and the next Oliver was handing the keys to the valet and extending a hand to help Felicity out of the car. He mentioned his name to the maître d’ and pulled Felicity’s chair out for her. The waiter brought waters, bread, and a wine menu.

Then Felicity noticed she was ripping her bread into little pieces creating a mess on her plate. Oliver was watching her curiously out of the corner of his eye as he perused the wine menu. Right when he opened his mouth to ask something, Felicity blurted, “Sara mentioned she was free all night.” Oliver turned his full attention to her setting down the wine menu. “I know we didn’t clarify anything. But…” she trailed off and her face flushed. His hand slipped across the table and covered one of hers.

“We can take things as slow or fast as you want, Felicity. I didn’t imply anything to Sara.” He squeezed her hand. She licked her lips with unease but flipped her hand over and squeezed back.

“Thank you. I'd prefer slow, if that's okay with you." She bit her tongue to keep from adding anything more. He squeezed her hand and nodded meeting her eye, silently agreeing with her. They picked out a wine, ordered their food, and caught each other up on the last two days. Oliver talked about William going back to his mom’s and Felicity mentioned how Link had been asking about Will.

“Really?” Oliver asked.

“Yeah. Just a few times over the week. He said they played a game that no one else knows and he really wants to play again.”

“What was it called?”

“I think it was a make believe game. He said there were dragons.”

“Huh.” Oliver nodded. “Do you want me to ask Samantha if they can get together while Will’s at his mom’s?”

“When do you get him back?”

“Not this weekend but the next, only for the weekend. Then it’s almost two weeks until he’s at my place for a week. I get him one week a month and every other weekend.”

“Link has a few playdates. I think he can wait until the weekend, unless you don’t want to do a playdate during your time with him.”

“A playdate would be good, as long as I don’t have to drop him off.”

“Oh you’re one of those parents that wants to talk the whole playdate? Hover over the kids?” She wrinkled her face teasingly.

“Only if the mom is as beautiful as you.” Her cheeks flushed; he grinned. The rest of their dinner was peppered with anecdotes of their kids and jobs, moaning about how good the food was by Felicity, and lots of adoring looks.

Before Felicity could blurt out that she hadn’t been on a date that included food and conversation in half a decade, Oliver was grabbing the check. This time she didn’t fight it. Then they were waiting for the valet to bring back the truck and Oliver was telling a story about one of William’s homeruns. He opened her door for her and smirked at her through the windshield as he walked around the truck.

Felicity had completely forgotten about the surprise Oliver had in store for her, until he exited off the highway and out of the city. “Where are we going?” Felicity asked.

“There’s a park a few miles east that’s clear enough to see stars. There are blankets in the backseat.” Felicity stared at him for a moment. He looked over at her worriedly, but calmed when he saw a smile on her face.

“Have you been watching romances?” She grinned leaning her head against the headrest. Oliver scoffed but a hint of a blush spread across his cheeks. She gasped and slapped his shoulder. “You have, haven’t you!” He looked over at her in shock and she felt a second of embarrassment before he chuckled and grabbed the hand that had hit him.

“Thea chose one for our movie night last week. But I actually came up with this on my own, kinda.”

“Which one did you watch?”

“I don’t know.” Oliver wrinkled his forehead in confusion.

“What was it about?”

“I think it was a musical? I dunno the girl was an actress or writer? Something like that. And the guy was a jazz musician.” Felicity gasped again. Oliver parked the car.

“Was it La La Land?” He lifted a brow and tilted his head.

“Maybe,” and out the car he went. Felicity watched him closely with a slight smile on her face. He held his hand out for her, helped her out of the car, and closed the door behind her. “I’ll ask Thea,” he said as he intertwined their fingers and walked her to the back of the truck. He opened the hatch and patted it. Felicity laughed at him before looking down at her heels and dress. He shrugged, wrapped his arms around her waist, and lifted her onto the truck.

Butterflies wreaked havoc on her stomach as it swooped with the movement. She ogled him as he hopped onto the back of the truck and walked over to the pile of blankets. He spread two on the truck bed and wrapped one around her shoulders. He settled in a laying position with his own blanket wrapped around him and motioned for her to join him.

“Felicity,” he slowly drawled. She blinked out of her daze. “Come here.” He held out his hand. “Do you see the Big Dipper?” He pillowed his head on one of his arms and looked up at the sky. Felicity let out a shaky breath before shifting herself further into the truck bed and next to Oliver. She laced their fingers together and used her free arm as a pillow like him.

She looked up at the stars and memories flooded her mind making her feel really small. Oliver talked through some of the constellations he knew and the stories behind them. Then he turned to look at her. That’s about when she realized she was holding his hand tightly.

“You okay?” he softly asked.

“Yeah.” She nodded at him. He gave her a look, a look that told her he could see right through that lie. She quickly looked away. Then the words bubbled out. “I haven’t seen this many stars since I was with…” She let out a long sigh and turned her head completely away from him. “Lincoln’s father.” Oliver nodded seriously even though she couldn’t see it. He brushed his thumb in soothing strokes against the back of her hand. She turned back to him with a teary smile. He tugged his hand away from behind his head and cupped her cheek.

“Felicity,” he whispered with heartache. She laughed wetly and wiped away her tears.

“Sorry. Just. Memories coming back.” She sniffled and looked down at their hands.

“Good or.. bad?” Oliver softly asked, almost fearful of it being bad.

“Both.” Felicity’s voice cracked and she cleared her throat then took a deep breath. “He um. We had a good relationship I guess, until it ended.” Oliver nodded in understanding. He had had his fair share of those. He rolled onto his side for a better view of her. She smiled sadly over at him.

“Sorry,” he murmured. She laughed wetly again and rolled her eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was at him or at herself.

“Don’t be,” she replied. “It would have been a disaster. Kids weren’t in his life plan. Not being a criminal wasn’t in his life plan.” Oliver’s brow shot into his hairline. She shook her head at his silent questions. Her hand that had been used as a pillow came forward to keep his hand on her cheek. “I’ll tell you. Just. Not tonight, please.”

“Of course,” Oliver whispered. “Take your time.” He leaned forward and pressed at kiss to her forehead. She closed her eyes, relishing in the comfort he was giving her. She released his hand on her cheek before letting go. He rolled back onto his back pillowing his head once more with his now free hand. She scooted closer to him, resting her head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her allowing her to rest more comfortably against him. She grabbed his hand once more and cuddled in to his side, both of them looking up at the stars.

After a long silence where they just heard the noises of animals in the park and their breathing, Oliver said, “The stars have always brought me comfort. Whenever I was away at camp or at a friends’ house, I’d look at the stars and know my family were looking at them too.” He looked down at her curled against his chest and a sense of rightness settled in his chest. “Sorry my romantic date didn’t pan out,” he whispered. She looked up at him and saw his smile was still there, just a little curl of his lips.

“It’s still romantic, just… not for me.” She gave him a sad smile in return.

“Yeah,” he sighed. He brought his hand away from his head again and brushed a fallen lock of hair behind her ear. Her breath caught in her throat and her teeth caught her bottom lip. His fingers trailed downward and his thumb just barely touched her bottom lip. She released it as she sucked in her breath. He smiled down at her and caressed her cheek slowly moving closer.

Their noses touched and their eyes focused on each other’s lips.

_Briiiing. Briiiing. Briiiing._

Oliver cringed deeply. Felicity jumped away but was caught tangled in his arms. _And moment officially ruined_ , he thought as he pulled away from Felicity and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

**Samantha Clayton**

“Hello?” He sat up and leaned against the cabin of the truck. Felicity followed him her eyes still looking alarmed. “I.. thought I told Will I would call him in the morning. I have.. something going on right now. … I answered because you called. … Yes I normally turn my phone off during meetings. It’s not a meeting. … Just. Put Will on, please.” Oliver flashed a look to Felicity. She was fiddling with the edge of the blanket wrapped around her. Oliver ducked his head.

“Hey, buddy. I can’t talk long, okay? I’ll call you in the morning for details of your day. I just want to say I love you and get a good night’s sleep. Alright? … Yeah. Love you too, buddy. Night. … No, you don’t have to put your Mom back on. … Okay. Have a good night.” And then he hung up. “I’m sorry.” He looked at her shyly.

“No, don’t be.” She grabbed his forearm. He smiled sadly at her. “You call every night?”

“Most nights. Some nights I work late or have an event and I have to call in the morning. Will doesn’t really like morning calls. He’s not a morning person.” Felicity’s hand slid down and curled around his.

“That’s really sweet.” Oliver shrugged and shook his head.

“I figure if I can’t have him every day, I can at least connect with him. I tried getting him a phone a year ago because Samantha doesn’t always answer right away, but that ended badly.” His lips formed a thin line.

“Yeah. An eight year old with a phone is a bit much.” Oliver nodded sadly. “My company’s working on a watch that can call a few numbers. There are kids’ safety phones but this watch would be for old people or kids or really anyone.”

“Do you have a prototype?”

“I was going to give the first prototype to Link. But realistically he’d only call me and he’s only away from me for school and after school care until five thirty.” Oliver thought of asking about Lincoln’s father but got the feeling he wasn’t there.

“What about grandparents?” he asked. Felicity’s face brightened.

“My mom would _love_ that. And she’d probably call me less. All we really talk about is Lincoln and my dating.. um. And my work life.” Felicity tilted her head.

“Dating?” he hesitantly asked. Felicity cringed.

“Lack thereof is a better way of putting it. But yeah. She keeps telling me I’ve got to get back in the game and not wait as long as she did. She’ll be thrilled if I ever tell her about you.” Oliver arched a brow upward.

“If?” he asked his voice quiet.

“I haven’t gotten the chance to tell her about you. Weekly phone call not made yet. And I’ve yet to get asked out for another date so I’d rather not get her hopes up. Uhhh.” Her cheeks heated and she closed her eyes. “Did I just-? Please tell me to shut up.” He couldn’t see her blush in the darkness of the night but he could imagine it. He chuckled.

“I would love to go on another date with you, Felicity.” She let out a relieved sigh. “Do you want to continue with the stars or…” She dared a look up at the beautiful night sky and her heart tensed.

“Other options?” she shyly asked.

“Um… do you like ice cream?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she quickly answered happily.

“I know a good food truck that sells cookies and ice cream. Do you want to get some?”

“Do they have mint chip?”

“Probably.”

“Let’s do it.” They both made their way to the edge of the truck. Oliver hopped down easily before lifting Felicity off of the truck bed and closing the hatch. She felt the butterflies wreak havoc on her stomach again. Oliver opened the car door for her. “Where are they?” she asked as he got in on the driver’s side. Oliver rattled off their website and Felicity tracked them down. Their spirits were up as they pulled into an empty parking lot, a blue food truck tucked away in the far corner with picnic tables set up beside it.

She kept hold of the hand that helped her out of the truck and the sense of rightness was back again. When he spotted mint chocolate chip ice cream on the menu, his little spikes of worry dissipated. Once they got their orders, Felicity tugged him to a table with a umbrella over it. She sat on the top of the table, resting her feet on the bench you’d normally sit on. He mimicked her.

“If Samantha agrees to it, I can probably get Will the watch prototype in a few weeks. I was just going to test it out on my own, but getting our audience’s perspective is a better option.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“But I want to.” She leaned over and flashed a grin at him. Oliver smiled back the tension in his chest finally receding.

“Then I’ll talk to her.” Felicity felt her heart thump wildly in her chest.

“I might even give Link one so he can call my mom. They’re very like-minded. They both babble, well so do I, but they both move their hands and fixate over how they look for a certain occasion.” She rolled her eyes. Oliver smirked at her explanation. “They get along very well, much better than I get along with my mom. And probably better than I get along with Link.” She huffed.

“What do you mean?” Oliver asked.

“Well. When I was Link’s age, I was learning how to build a computer and making top grades in school and just… I don’t know. He’s more focused on recess and lunch. Those are his _favorite_ classes. He’s got a lot of friends, like everyone in his class. I had one or two. He’s almost seven but he doesn’t really love reading. He likes listening to me read a story to him. But he’d rather not read on his own. He prefers playing or watching something on his tablet.”

“That’s all normal,” Oliver said. Felicity nodded but looked bewildered. “Maybe he takes after his dad?” He held his breath waiting for the tension to come again. But it didn’t.

She frowned and said, “No. He was the same way I was.”

“Kids take after someone in the family. Is he like your Mom or Dad?”

“My mom. I guess.” Oliver nodded.

“William is far ahead academically than I was at his age. But so was his mom. Will does like sports like me though. Does Link like anything you like?”

“Yeah,” she perked up. “We both love Doctor Who and Marvel.” Oliver smiled at her and took a bite of his cookie ice cream sandwich. They both ate for a second before Felicity swallowed and sat up straighter. “Want to play two truths and a lie?” she asked. Oliver narrowed his eyes for a moment before he nodded skeptically. “You want to go first?”

“Sure.” He thought for a minute. “I broke my leg by jumping off a two story building, I know six languages fluently, and my favorite sport is football.”

“Six languages?” Felicity wrinkled her nose. Oliver shook his head. “What?” Her jaw dropped. “Which ones? How? When?”

“I know English, Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Spanish. I grew up speaking English, that’s my native language. I learned Spanish in high school and college. I learned Russian when I spent a few months in Russia right after my father died. I learned Cantonese and Mandarin because I spent time in China around the same time. Then I had a Japanese friend while I lived in China and he taught me Japanese.”

“That is so…” her eyes widened and she placed her cookie ice cream sandwich on the table. “That’s impressive. So your lie?”

“Football.” He smirked. Felicity tilted her head.

“Why’d you jump off a two story building?”

“It was during parkour. I was aiming to land on a fire escape but it was old and rusted and just fell with me.” He shrugged.

“How old were you?”

“It happened three years ago. While I was running for mayor.” She gasped and he chuckled at her reaction. She gave him a look for laughing at her then she thought for a second and frowned.

“I should have gone first mine are all so lame,” she mumbled. He furrowed his brow.

“No. You’re interesting.” Felicity hummed as if to say, _you have to say that_.

“Okay. My two truths and a lie.” She hummed as she thought. A tune Oliver knew but couldn’t place. “Okay, got it! I was seven when I first built a working computer on my own, my first pet was named after my favorite food pop tarts, and I had a horrendous goth phase all throughout high school and college.” Oliver frowned and she grinned proudly.

“Goth phase. I can’t see you as a goth.” Felicity threw her head back with laughter.

“Believe it. I was a serious goth girl from ages 15 til 19. My mom _hated_ it.” Oliver’s mouth actually opened in shock.

“But…” He picked up a few strands of her blonde hair.

“I dye it.” Her eyes went wide. “Don’t tell anyone. That’s a well-kept secret.” He peered up at her roots and she stared at him seriously.

“Lips are sealed. What’s your natural color?”

“Brown. My mom probably has pictures from before high school or during pregnancy.” Oliver looked confused. “I didn’t dye it anything while pregnant. I read a few articles saying it was bad for the baby. I had dyed it black as goth and then being a mom just changed my mind.” She shrugged. He still looked at the hair that was in his hand.

“But blonde. Why?”

“It just seemed right.”

“It fits,” Oliver finished. Felicity nodded with a bright smile. He let go of her hair. “Where are your glasses today?” he asked tucking the strands he had messed with behind her ear.

“I thought contacts would fit the date better.” She shrugged again. Oliver smiled down at her.

“You look beautiful with and without them.” She felt like she was floating on air as they finished their cookie ice cream sandwiches.

They sat in relative silence on the ride back to her place. Oliver drove exactly the speed limit on the way, buying them more time together. He had her hand clutched in his over the gear shift.

There was a light on when they pulled up to her place. He asked if he could walk her to the door and she checked the time before saying yes. Oliver hadn’t felt so nervous at the end of a date since he was in high school; Felicity felt the anticipation as they neared her front door. She turned to face him the second they came to a stop. His hand came up to tuck the same loose strand behind her ear.

Oliver caressed her cheek slowly leaning forward until their noses nuzzled. Felicity closed her eyes just as his lips brushed with hers. A shiver went down her back followed by goosebumps. The kiss was a gentle brushing of their lips. Felicity let out an annoyed noise, fisted his tie, and pulled him closer. In return, his hand slid down to tangle in her hair at the curve of her neck. He sunk into the kiss and she wrapped one arm around his shoulders. His free arm slipped down low on her back hauling her against him.

She felt a breeze against the bare skin revealed on her back. In response to her shiver, he raised the hand on her back and pressed its warmth against her skin. She shivered again for a much better reason.

He pulled back for a second to look down at her lips. Her red lipstick was smudged slightly and not nearly as bright as before. Her eyes were still closed and she chased his lips, not allowing him a longer look.

They pulled back with swollen lips and heavy breaths. Their noses brushed as their eyes opened to see each other. She sucked in her air at the storminess of his eyes.

“I’ve wanted to do that all week,” he murmured. A slow grin materialized as her response. She lifted upward and caught his lips again. He tilted her head to get a better angle and he walked her back two steps until her back hit her front door. She jerked away with wide eyes.

“Okay, you’re… good at that,” she stumbled. Oliver chuckled. “But. I’ve got a kid in there. And.” She released her hold on his tie and patted his chest, stepping away from the door. “Let’s slow down.” He smiled and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“Of course,” he murmured in her ear. She licked her lips and gulped. He took a step back and put his hands in his pockets. She floundered for a moment, trying to get her keys out of her clutch, but then she had the door open and she let out a sigh of relief.

She made it two steps into the door before she yelped. Oliver charged into her house and put himself between Felicity and whatever made Felicity yelp. Sara chuckled, standing with her coat on right next to the door, mixing in with the shadows.

“Relax, Ollie. Just you’re friendly neighborhood babysitter. Link’s asleep. He might beat you at Mario Kart next time. Taught him some moves.” She winked and stepped out the door. “I’ll be waiting by the car.”

“You okay?” Oliver asked Felicity. He held onto her elbow.

“Yeah.” She nodded then took a second of breath. She looked up at him “See you later?”

“Lunch Monday?”

“Tuesday?”

“Sounds good.” He cupped her face and pecked her lips. As he pulled away and walked to his car, a gushy smile lifted her face. Just as she closed the door she saw Sara fist bump Oliver and say something that had him shyly laughing.

Felicity locked the door and made her way up to Lincoln’s room, flicked her heels off, opened his door, and watched him sleep for a moment. Her footsteps creaked as she tiptoed into his room. She kneeled beside his bed and brushed his hair away from his eyes. He needed a trim and it was missing its usual golden highlights he got from playing outside.

Link sighed as she pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Love you, baby,” Felicity whispered. She carefully walked out of his room and down the hall to hers. She checked her phone as soon as she was tucked in bed, pajamas on and make up off.

One message from her friend, Iris, from Central City. They’d met while at a café, when Felicity was finishing her masters at MIT and pregnant, and Iris was finishing her senior year at Boston College for psychology. Iris had spilled coffee on her computer and Felicity offered to fix it. Iris was one of the few who didn’t judge Felicity for trying to finish a masters while pregnant and 19.

Though Felicity’s bump was small, it was noticeable. Iris ended up keeping in contact, partly because she said, “Congrats on the baby” and Felicity paled and spewed out the backstory of said baby. Iris sat with her for three hours and from then on they had a strong friendship. Iris was there for Lincoln’s birth in Starling City, along with Felicity’s mom. And around Link’s second birthday, Iris tried to set Felicity up with her best friend, Barry. After an attempt at a date and a sweet kiss, Felicity sat Iris down and hinted at some things. Eventually, Iris got together with Barry and everyone was relieved she finally figured it out.  

Felicity wasn’t surprised to see a text from Iris. She would go so far as to assume Iris was more excited about the change in Felicity’s love life than Felicity was. Felicity figured the assumption was correct because, Iris immediately called and screeched after Felicity sent her a picture she’d taken while she was on the bike and Oliver was training shirtless along with the note that she got his number.

 ** _How’d the date with Mayor Handsome go?_** Iris asked. Felicity felt her heart jump into her throat. She fiddled with the button to call her friend, but a yawn attacked her and she opted out.

**_Really good._ **

**_Details pls!_** Iris replied. Felicity chewed on her lip.

**_in the morning. it’s too late for u_ **

**_DETAILS_ **

**_go to sleep it’s like 1am ur time. i’m asleep_** and a sleeping emoji.

She replied with an eye rolling emoji and **_I’ll hold you to details in the morning_**

Felicity read a few news articles. Just as she burrowed down in bed, a message from Oliver pinged her phone.

**_Can’t wait for more nights like tonight. Hope Link is snug as a bug._ **

She turned her face into her pillow and squealed for a second before composing herself. She took a few deep breaths and rolled her eyes at herself. When did she turn into the girl that squealed because of a text? What was she? Her mother? She froze at that thought, horrified slightly. “Not my mom. I’m not my mom,” she said to herself. She typed out a few messages relaying her enjoyment of their date then deleted them, finally settling on, **_tonight was great thank you. Sara knows how to tire a kid out. We’re both going to sleep in tomorrow._** She put her phone down on her bedside table but it buzzed again.

**_Not a surprising fact bout Sara. Goodnight Felicity_ **

**_Night Oliver._** With that she fell asleep with another gushy grin on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.  
> Once more I don't know when the next chapter will be up. I'm working on it, bare with me. Know it involves both William and Lincoln and a Tuesday date with Oliver and Felicity.  
> Comments are glorious.


	4. Tuesdays and Paintball Dates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to Workouts and Babbles! I've finally got chapter 4. Beyond thankful for the response this story is getting.

**Tuesdays and Paintball Dates**

“You’re going on _another_ date with Oliver Queen?” Curtis asked. Felicity stopped pouring her coffee and slowly turned to look at her co-worker, confidant, and friend.

“Um…”

“I mean don’t you know he used to be like a… man-slut?” Curtis cringed, rubbed the back of his neck, and looked to the floor.

“He’s different now, Curtis,” Felicity replied. She never in a million years thought Curtis would have an issue with her dating Oliver Queen. After all there had been many days where they’d both watch the mayor’s speeches simply because they got to watch Oliver. _That sounds really depressing. Note to self, never tell people about that_ , Felicity thought.

“But. … Felicity, we’ve both seen all the women he used to date and the gossip articles about him.” Felicity tilted her head and frowned. Curtis raised his brow in surprise. “You haven’t?”

“Not since he was elected. And certainty not recently,” she replied. Curtis fidgeting in front of her. “What’s wrong, Curtis? He’s a good guy. He’s not the same kid he used to be. None of us are. He has a son that he really cares about and he,” she sighed, “he’s different now.” Curtis stared at her for a moment, as if he was deciding whether or not to tell her something.

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt,” Curtis stated. Felicity nodded as she pressed her lips together tightly. “There’s so many stories of him cheating on his girlfriends.” Felicity hummed and turned around to finish pouring her coffee.

…

Oliver was waiting at the table talking with an professionally dressed brunette when Felicity entered the restaurant. Felicity felt a pang of worry and jealousy as she stared at the brunette laughing at something Oliver had said. She was sitting in the seat that was meant, supposedly, for Felicity. The hostess stopped just behind Oliver, recognizing that Felicity found her lunch date. She smiled tensely before returning to the front of the restaurant.

Oliver nodded at the woman sitting across from him, and Felicity heard the low sounds of a chuckle coming from him. Felicity stepped up to the side of the table and cleared her throat with a smile toward her date. Oliver’s eyes flicked over her form before meeting her eyes. A dazzling smile instantly lifted his face and he stood up to reach a hand out to her waist. Much to Felicity relief, the woman stood too.

“Felicity, I’d like to introduce you to Laurel Lance. Laurel, Felicity Smoak.” Laurel smiled and held out a hand which Felicity took in a firm handshake. She felt relieved, having heard about Laurel from Oliver’s old tales.  

“You’re _the_ Laurel,” Felicity murmured just loud enough to cause a side eyed look from Laurel to Oliver. Felicity’s eye widened. “I mean, Oliver’s Laurel.” Laurel’s eyes widened and she let go of Felicity’s hand. Felicity cringed. “Oliver’s _old_ friend,” she corrected. When Laurel blinked with widening eyes, Felicity’s brow furrowed. “Not old as in age, but old as in you share a lot of history together. Lots of… history.” Felicity bit her tongue to stop from saying more. Oliver’s hand slid back to rest on her lower back and she recognized that he was vibrating from silent laughter.

Laurel met Felicity gaffe with a charming, “It’s nice to meet you, Felicity. Sorry for stealing your date. I’m having a lunch meeting and my coworkers haven’t arrived yet. I’m a little early, Tommy might have mentioned that Oliver was asking for good lunch places.” She threw a wink at Oliver pulling an embarrassed cough from him. Felicity watched his ears turn red. But her attention was brought back to Laurel when she said, “Well I’ll let you two be.” Laurel smiled at Felicity again before making her way to a table in the far corner of the restaurant.

“Hey,” Oliver softly greeted. He kissed her cheek. The tension that had covered her chest lessened. She gripped his forearm with a squeeze. He helped her into her seat before taking his own across from her.

They caught each other up on the things they hadn’t mentioned via text or phone calls since Saturday. Felicity had completely forgotten about her previous jealously, if you could call it that, it was probably just heart burn. At least that’s what she was telling herself. But then the waitress came over and paid a lot of attention to Oliver and he smooth talked through his order and their order of wine. Felicity barely earned a glance from the waitress as she ordered. Then the waitress’ hand covered Oliver’s as he handed his menu over and she held on long enough to earn an awkward smile from Oliver as he slipped out of her hold.

Lunch was stilted slightly by the emotions twirling in Felicity’s chest. Varying between anger that she even felt jealous, to self-doubt, to worry that Oliver probably didn’t see something long term in their relationship, etc. If Oliver noticed, he didn’t show it. He might have tilted his head a few times as he waited patiently for Felicity to answer a question, but other than that he easily carried the conversation. That was until lunch was over and he was walking her back to her car.

He grabbed her hand as she walked through the door he had opened for her. She walked ahead of him, with heavy steps. Eventually, Oliver matched her step. She just quickened her pace.

“Felicity,” Oliver breathed tugging her back to him by the hand. He tucked them in an alcove of a building. A pit of worry appeared in Felicity’s stomach as she looked up at him. He shook his head silently asking her what was wrong. Her self-doubt crawled up her throat.

She tried to gulp it down but before she knew it she said, “Are you sure you want a relationship with me? Like… me, me? Single mother who works too much and puts all her free time into bonding with her kid. Because… you’re not, your type isn’t really me. You know? Blonde, techy, babbler me. You’re more into tall, brunette, models without kids, who don’t stick their foot in their mouth every other sentence. And.” She would have continued but his hands came up to cup her cheeks and she lost her words.

“What are you talking about?” He searched her eyes. She felt the dread of the truth that was about to come like an anvil on her heart.

“Do you really want to be with me?” Felicity cringed at her words. “And being with me means _all_ of me not just nice meals and-.”

Oliver cut her off with, “Yes. I want to be with you, Felicity.” Her hands jolted up to grab his wrists and she sucked in air.

“Really?” she breathed in disbelief. He furrowed his brow at her shock.

“You’re beautiful, smart, funny, a good mom, and,” he let out a short sigh, “I’m just happy you’re willing to take a chance on the failed CEO turned mayor who doesn’t understand half the things you say because he dropped out of four colleges and never got a degree.”

She blinked rapidly at him. After a few seconds, his words registered and her worried face turned into pleased shock. He smiled and let out a breath of relief. His thumb stroked her cheekbone.

“You’re remarkable, Felicity,” he whispered. She felt a buzz of happiness pop in her chest.

“Thanks for remarking on it.” She beamed up at him. He chuckled and trailed his hands down to intertwined with hers. Her face furrowed in disappointment.

Oliver smiled at her before catching her lips with his. It took Felicity by surprise but she quickly recuperated the kiss, his hand came up to cup her cheek, she nipped his lip pulling a gasp from him, then they felt a gust wind carrying chatter as people past them and pulled apart.

“So…” she dragged as he led her toward the parking garage. He lifted a single brow in question. “Are we,” she cleared her throat, “going to get the kids together this weekend? This is your weekend with William, right?” He nodded. “Do you want to do something with them? All together?” Oliver thought for a second. “We don’t have to. I can drop Link off or you can drop Will off. I was just thinking it-.”

“No, let’s do something with them. What did you have in mind?” Felicity let out a whooshing breath.

“We could see a movie?” Oliver didn’t seem exactly pleased with that. “Okay, saving that for another day. What were you thinking?” She squeezed his hand nervously.

“Let’s let the kids decide,” he lightly answered.

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. We’re already ruining their thing by being there might as well let them chose the activity. Though I can’t promise that Link will suggest anything other than getting ice cream and going to look at puppies. He’s been wanting a dog since his friend Ben got one last month.”

“William will probably want to do something a bit more physical, unless it’s videogames.” Oliver gave her a worried look.

“Then let’s let William decide what we do. Link won’t care.” She shrugged. He gave her a look full of gratefulness. They made it inside the parking garage and just as he went for the stairs, Felicity tugged him in the opposite direction. “My car’s not that far up. Just over there,” she pointed it out as she spoke. Oliver took a little leap before he was in step with her. She let out a short laugh and he gave her a look that said, _what… me?_

She went to get in her car, but he pulled her to him by the hand once more. This time she smiled at him and in a fluid motion wrapped an arm around his neck. He bent downward just as she lifted onto her toes their lips meeting in the middle. Oliver must have sensed something, because he pulled back from the kiss just before a car drove past.

“How do you feel about Vietnamese food?” he murmured with a slight tilt to his head.

“Don’t know. Is it good?”

“Tommy mentioned a good place. What are you doing Thursday night?”

“Depends on if I can get a babysitter.” He gave her a half smile and she returned it with a full one. “I’ll call you when I get the sitter.” She edged backward to her car door and he released her hand. He watched her get in and start the car. As she pulled away he was in the doorway to the stairs, waving goodbye.

…

Felicity poured Cheerios into a bowl, added milk, and Lincoln scooped the bowl up. He munched on his breakfast as Felicity sipped her second cup of coffee. Link asked if he could watch cartoons; Felicity responded with a humming nod of approval. She checked her phone and smiled at the message from **Mayor Handsome**.

**_Can’t tell who’s more excited for paintball me or Will._ **

She responded with, **_Still waking up over here._** She snapped a photo of her coffee mug with Lincoln watching his tablet in the background. Oliver sent back a photo of William with a forkful of eggs halfway to his mouth.

Then a text from Iris came in, **_How’d date #2 go?_**

Felicity turned her back to Lincoln and hopped up onto the kitchen counter. **_Technically number like 6 if u include coffee and lunch dates._**

Then Felicity phone rang, a picture of Iris sticking her tongue out popped up. Felicity laughed and answered with a very calm, “Hello?”

“ _Don’t ‘hello’ me. What do you mean there’s been six dates? Why have I only heard of two?”_ Iris bellowed through the phone. Felicity muffled her laughter by biting on her thumb.

“Well um. The first date was at the gym when the…” she paused and looked over her shoulder at Link. He was turned in her direction, face wrinkled in confusion. She stared at him for a moment.

“ _Felicity_?” Iris asked. Felicity jumped up and pointed at Lincoln.

“I’m going to go get dressed. When you’re finished, put your dish in the sink. I’ll be back soon.” She dropped a kiss to Link’s head and scurried upstairs.

“ _Felicity_ ,” Iris stated as if she was shaking her head at her friend.

“What? He doesn’t know I’m dating anyone. Well.. he doesn’t know I’m dating Oliver.” Felicity made it to her room, closed the door, and sat on her bed.

“ _Why does it matter? It’s not like he knows him_.”

“Well…” Felicity nibbled on her lip.

“ _What does that mean?_ ”

“I was going to say. Our first date was in the gym’s smoothie place while our kids played downstairs. Then I got his number because Link asked for it because Link wanted to play with his son. Then we went out to lunch, without the kids, and then coffee. Then there was the date I told you about.”

“ _The one with the stars and ice cream_ ,” Iris’s voice held a questioning tone.

“Yeah that one. After that we met up for lunch Tuesday. Then last night we went to a Vietnamese restaurant. Which was sooo good, Iris.”

“ _Is that all?_ ” Iris asked. Felicity deflated slightly.

“I think six dates, or mini-dates or whatever you wanna call it is enough for knowing each other the short amount of time we have,” Felicity argued playfully placing a hand on her hip. Iris laughed.

“ _I meant any other plans_?”

“Oh.” Felicity dropped her hand off her hip. “Yeah today we’re taking the kids to play paintball and we’re joining.”

“ _Can Link play_?”

“Yeah. You have to be six with the game we’re playing according to Oliver. He said its less impact and easy to shoot. He’s taken his son a couple of times. It was Will’s idea actually.”

“ _Will is his son_?”

“Yeah. He’s a couple years older than Link but when Oliver asked if he wanted to do something with us, he was excited.” Felicity shrugged.

“ _That’s nice._ ” Someone shouted in the background of the call. “ _I gotta go. Have fun. Try not to hurt yourself_.” Felicity laughed and they bid their goodbyes.

…

“I smell food!” Thea called from the top of the stairs. She started her descent and William spit his eggs out while laughing.

“William.” Oliver frowned at his son. Will laughed so hard he dropped his fork and bent over. Oliver turned to see what was making him laugh so hard. He grinned as he saw Thea wearing the Slytherin robe William had given her over Christmas and a green facemask.

Thea took her nephew’s laughter in stride making her way over to the stove and lifting the lid to the eggs. She took a deep breath in then looked around. “Where’s the rest of the food?” she asked.

“In the pantry or fridge just an easy fifteen minute recipe away from being on your plate,” Oliver supplied. Thea glared at him.

“But it’s the weekend, Ollie. A William weekend. That means muffins and coffee cake and bacon or pancakes and waffles and sausages.” Thea groaned when Oliver gave her a heartless shrug. “And you call yourself a chef,” she hissed before she dished herself up a hearty amount of eggs.

“Dad didn’t have time to make anything. We’re going to paintball soon,” William informed before he shoveled eggs into his mouth. Thea tilted her head when she noticed Oliver’s dopey grin.  

“Paintball,” she slowly said eyeing her brother. Oliver’s grin vanished in an instant, replaced with a nod. “Just you two?” Thea asked.

“No,” William said through his food. “We’re meeting Link and his mom.” Thea hummed.

“What’s her name again?” she asked. William unknowingly took the bait.

“Ms. Smoak. Felicity?” he asked his father. Oliver nodded silently. Thea tilted her head and smirked evilly at her brother.

“Is this the Felicity that-?”

“I’ll make bacon. How does that sound, Will?” Oliver asked loudly as he jumped out of his seat. William frowned at his father. Thea’s brow lurched into her hairline.

Oliver stalked over to Thea and the stove. He glowered at her and she gave him an innocent look. “What?” she asked in the same tone of voice she used when she was hiding the fact that she gave William dessert before dinner.

“I’ll tell you later, if you drop it now,” he lowly said so William’s keen ears wouldn’t pick up on it.

“You have a deal, brother of mine,” Thea happily replied.

…

Lincoln sniffled as he sat on the Dead Zone bench. William had shot him within the first five minutes of the game and it was nearing the twelve minute mark. A guy who worked at the paintball field came over to ask if Link was okay and brought him water. Felicity had started to make her way over to check on him but was herded back to the center of the field by William and Oliver.

Felicity looked over at the Dead Zone for the hundredth time then spotted Oliver on his own. She crouched low and made her way to the bunker next to his.

“Oliver!” she shouted.

“Yeah?” he called back.

“Surrender.”

“You have a shot on me?”

“Link’s alone. Surrender.”

“Why don’t you surrender?” he asked teasingly. Felicity grumbled. She peered over at Lincoln and saw him rub his nose.

“Fine.” She stepped out into the open field and within two second she had Oliver’s green paint on her shoulder. “Ow,” she grumbled as she made her way over to Lincoln. Oliver called for William then followed her.

“Why’d you do that?” Link snapped.

“Do what?” Felicity asked.

“You just stood there. You let him shoot you. We could have won!”

“I figured you’d want to start a new game,” she said as she sat down next to him. Lincoln crossed his arms over his chest.

“I _don’t_.”

“Why not? Did you not have fun?”

“No!” Link answered just in time for William and Oliver to step up to them. “It’s stupid!” Link shouted. William looked at Oliver with confusion on his face. Oliver patted his shoulder.

“Let’s try again,” Felicity offered. “Different teams maybe?”

“I’m just gonna lose anyways,” Link’s voice laced with defeat. He dropped his chin to his chest and took shaky breaths trying to hold back his tears.

Felicity flicked her eyes over the Queen boys for a minute, just long enough to share a silent plea with Oliver. Oliver nudged William’s shoulder. Will abruptly stopped watching the mother son duo and walked with his father to get water. Lincoln let the tears roll down his cheeks as soon as William’s feet disappeared out of his vision. Felicity slid until she was fully pressed against Lincoln, engulfed him in her arms, and settled her chin on his shoulder.

“You can’t just give up after the first try, Link,” Felicity softly said in his ear. Lincoln whimpered. “Things may be difficult but that doesn’t stop us from doing them again and again.” Felicity grabbed his hands that were curled high on his chest. “It takes practice to be good at something.” She carefully uncurled his fists. “And I know you’ll get the hang of this, because you’re awesome.”

“Mom,” Lincoln whined as she pressed their palms together. He sniffled. Felicity relented on the hand holding but rocked him back and forth in her arms. He tried to sit up straighter but couldn’t with her weight on him. “Mom,” he grumbled.

“You wanna try again? How ‘bout you team up with William.”

Lincoln quickly wiped his tears and wiggled out of Felicity’s grasp. Not two seconds later Oliver and William came back with two bottles of water each. Oliver tilted his head slightly toward Lincoln as he met Felicity’s gaze. She nodded once and Oliver smiled at her.

“William, can we be on the same team?” Lincoln shyly asked. He kicked his legs back and forth as they dangled from the height of the bench.

“Yeah. But first.” William flicked his eyes up toward Oliver waiting for the nod of approval Oliver quickly gave. “Do you want my Dad to teach you how to shoot? I wasn’t very good at first too.” Will’s eyes quickly looked up at Oliver who nodded with a proud smile.

“Really?” Link asked eyes sparkling with hope.

“Yeah. He’s a good teacher and then you’ll have mad ninja skills like us.” William puffed out his chest and grinned. Lincoln looked up at Oliver with a sense of awe and wonder. Oliver smiled nervously.

“Let’s go to the shooting range,” he said. Lincoln jumped off the bench and chased after Oliver, not even waiting for Felicity.

Oliver kneeled in front of a target. Link took his spot next to him. Oliver carefully showed Lincoln how to hold the paintball gun properly, then went about telling him when the best moment to shoot was.

“What pause?” Link asked after Oliver described pulling the trigger in the pause between breaths.

“Take deep breaths, in and out.” Oliver demonstrated and Link quickly mimicked. “At the end of each breath you pause before you start another. Pull the trigger then,” Oliver carefully explained. They went through the motions of Oliver’s technique until Lincoln could hit the target.

They ended up playing two more games, kids winning against the adults and then Link and Oliver winning against Will and Felicity. Felicity and Oliver returned the paintball guns the four of them had rented while Lincoln and William busied themselves with a game of Oliver’s phone.

“Did you have fun?” Oliver asked as they slowly walked toward their boys. Felicity smiled at him and nodded her head. Oliver inched closer to her but her eyes flicked over to the boys. Then she looked back at him with a twinkle in her eye.

“I don’t know though,” she sighed. Oliver frowned. “Would have had more fun had I been on a winning team.” She crinkled her face in an attempt to wink at him and he found himself chuckling at her.

“Hey, Dad!” William called out. Oliver took a step back from Felicity feeling caught while her face flushed. “Can Link come to my baseball game?” With one look Oliver threw the question to Felicity.

“When is it?” Felicity pulled out her phone to look at her calendar.

“Next weekend. Saturday. One forty-five,” Oliver supplied.

“Please, Mom,” Lincoln added clutching his hands together.

“Yeah we can do that.” The boys high fived and Oliver grinned down at Felicity.

…

As soon as Oliver came back from tucking William into bed for the night, Thea asked, “So you’re dating your son’s friend’s mom?” He furrowed his brow and sat down on the couch next to her.

“…Yes.”

“I mean I’m not a parent but isn’t that like breaking the parent code?” She tossed a handful of popcorn into her mouth, eyes not leaving the rom-com playing on the television.

“What?” Oliver croaked out. Thea paused mid chew daring a sideways glance at him. She gulped down her popcorn.

“Ignore me,” she quickly added, “I know nothing about kids. He’ll probably not care or you know… love it.” She gave him a cringed smile. Oliver nodded nervously. He fidgeted in his spot on the couch for twenty minutes just long enough to see the first major fight between the on-screen couple.

“I’ll be back,” he mumbled getting up and hurrying to his room. He tugged his phone out of his pocket then pressed his most recently called number.

“ _Hello_ ,” Felicity sang into the phone. He cracked a smile.

“Hey.” He let out a breath of relief.

After a pause where they just listen to each other breath, she asked, “ _What’s up, Oliver?”_ He blinked out of his trance.

“Right. Um,” he cleared his throat, “I was,” he sighed, “Thea just said something that got me worried.”

“’ _Bout what_?” Oliver sat down on the edge of his bed and let out an annoyed huff. “ _Oh that bad, huh?_ ”

“Yeah,” he sighed. He ran a hand over his face.

“ _Well what can I do to help?_ ”

“We’re not… breaking the parent code are we?” Oliver cringed deeply.

“ _Breaking the parent code?_ _Like the girl code? By doing what? … Dating?_ ” Oliver huffed and flopped back on his bed. “ _I hope we’re not. I don’t think we are. We haven’t even told them yet. And we’re not going to until we… decide it’s appropriate. You know, tangible._ ”  

“Right.” Oliver swallowed the lump in his throat. “So parent code not broken?”

Felicity hummed as if she was thinking it over. “ _Not in my book_ , _handsome_.” Oliver coughed on a laugh. Felicity hummed happily. Oliver felt his heart constrict at the smooth tune coming from her. He had never felt this… head over heels with someone before. He shook his head at that terminology. Head over heels.

“ _Head over heels?_ ” Felicity asked. Oliver startled at her words. Did he just voice his thoughts out loud?

Oliver cleared his throat. “Um.. did Lincoln end up enjoying paintball?” He could practically see Felicity thinking through his words, digesting them, and filing them away for the future. “Felicity?” he asked after a minute of pure silence. His heart pounded in his chest.

“ _Yeah! He… he wants to do it again sometime.”_

“That’s great. I’m sure Will would love to team up with him again.”

They talked until Felicity yawned every other sentence. He wished her a good night and she murmured a goodbye before promptly starting to snore. Oliver hung up with a grin. He got ready for bed and slipped under his sheets. The second he closed his eyes, Felicity’s smiling face appeared. He smiled and happily drifted off. He was definitely head over heels for this woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hold your breath for the next chapter, but don't lose hope because I'm working on it honestly.


	5. Baseball Games and Discussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity talk about taking the next step, Lincoln learns about baseball, William juggles both his parents, and Thea makes some statements we are all thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a few months of writer's block, I've finally finished chapter 5. Thank you for everyone who's keeping up with this story.

**Baseball Games & Discussions **

“ _Miss Smoak, someone’s here to see you_ ,” Gerry announced over speaker phone.

“Tell them to come back later,” Felicity replied without looking up from her stack of paperwork. There wasn’t a reply, so Felicity continued on reading and initialing where the company’s lawyer had put the yellow sticky tabs, the blue stickies were for Ray to initial.

“You sure you don’t want a Double Belly Burger with extra onion rings?” Felicity yelped and jumped in her seat the neat stack of papers she had been holding dropping to the floor. Oliver lowered the bag of Big Belly Burger slowly. Felicity placed a hand over her heart as she took deep breaths.

“Oliver, why didn’t you just get Gerry to tell me it was you?” Felicity’s eyes flicked from the takeout bag to the papers covering the floor of her desk. She grumbled to herself before bending over to pick up the papers. Oliver quickly made his way over to her, placed the bag on her desk, and kneeled to pick up papers with her.

“Sorry,” he murmured. “I’ll do that next time.” Felicity sighed but quirked a smile in his direction. Oliver returned it with relief. He placed a large stack of papers down on her desk as he stood. She stared at the messy piles of papers covering her desk and frowned. “Want me to help organize them?” Oliver asked a little hesitantly. Felicity tilted her head the smallest bit before jumping out of her desk chair.

“Nope. It’s my lunch break.” She snatched the takeout bag up and walked over to her couch and coffee table. She sat down and patted the seat next to her before she started to pull food out of the takeout bag. When she pulled out her go to Big Belly Burger order, she gasped.

“First lunch date was Big Belly,” Oliver answered her unasked questioned. She did a little dance movement with her hand, cupped his cheek, and kissed him soundly.

“You are the best.” She peppered kisses on his lips and cheek before digging into her burger. Halfway through, she said, “Not that I don’t appreciate this, but what’s this surprise lunch date for?”

“Just wanted to check in and see you.” She smiled but noticed him rubbing his finger and thumb together, a sign she’d come to realize over the past few weeks was a nervous tick of his.

“No other reason?” she hesitantly asked. Oliver licked his lips then caught her eye. He let out a nervous breath and smiled. A deep pit started to form in her stomach.

“I was just wondering, where you stood on telling the kids about us?” Her stomach twisted and her heart spiked. “We’ll be coming up on over a month and a half of dating soon.” Felicity avoided eye contact. “Felicity,” he softly called. “If I’m moving too fast, I’ll stop.” He grabbed her hand. “I just wanted to know where you’re at.” She nodded her head rapidly but took a second to think.

“Not yet,” she finally whispered. “Soon. I promise.” Oliver furrowed his brow but quickly replaced it with a smile.

“Okay,” he whispered back. “I’ll wait for as long as you need.” He sealed his words with a kiss to her cheek. Felicity smiled but couldn’t drop the tension in her gut.

Once Oliver left, Felicity rested her head in her hands and groaned loudly. She pulled out her phone and called the one person she felt could give her advice even though normally Felicity avoided that advice.

“ _Hey,_ _baby_ ,” Donna answered.

“What’s wrong with me?” Felicity grumbled.

“ _What?! Nothing. Who said what? Do I need to come out there and knock some sense into someone?_ ”

“Nobody said anything. I.” Felicity let out an annoyed huff. “Oliver asked when we’d tell the kids. I just… I’m not ready.” Donna excused herself from wherever she was and the background noise on her side of the call died down.

“ _Baby_ ,” Donna sighed. She’d only heard a few things about her daughter’s new man. Mostly along the lines of charming, sweet, and patient.

One of the main reasons Donna even got to know about this new beau, was because Felicity wanted to know how her mother handled dating while being a single parent back in the day. Donna wasn’t sure how to tell her that she really didn’t date much after Felicity’s father left. She was too busy working 60 hour weeks to provide for the two of them. And when she did start to date, Felicity was old enough to pick up on the subtle changes in her mother’s routine.

“ _Nothing’s wrong with you, Felicity. Sometimes these things just take time. You’ll know when you’re ready_.”

“But I _want_ to be ready, Mom. I really like Oliver, a lot. And I think we’re getting serious.”

“ _Then what’s stopping you?_ ” Donna’s voice was gentle, a rare turn for a woman who often declared things. Felicity closed her eyes and pressed her hand on her forehead.

“I just can’t help but think that Lincoln won’t want us to date once he finds out. I remember your first boyfriend after Dad. I instantly hated him.”

“ _Felicity,_ ” Donna sighed. “ _You were a teenager and you knew your father. Link is still too young to really hate the idea of you dating because he’s not old enough to understand. And he never knew his father. He’ll have no one to compare Oliver to._ ” She paused letting her words sink in. “ _This could actually be a good thing for him. He’ll be gaining a father figure, something he’s never had._ ” Felicity’s eyes burned and she sniffled. “ _Felicity,_ ” Donna worriedly called.

“Why can’t I just get my shit together and,” she let out a shaky breath, “commit? It’s been six years since I’ve had a relationship that lasted more than a few dates. Shouldn’t that have been long enough?”

“ _Baby, a broken heart takes a long time to heal. But your relationship with Oliver will help yours to heal. Trust your instincts. They’ll tell you when it’s time to take the next step._ ” Felicity nodded her head and took deep breaths. Once her breathing evened out, Donna asked about Lincoln which lifted Felicity’s spirits. They stayed on the phone for a few more minutes until Donna was called back to work and they said their goodbyes.

After the call, Felicity stared at the piles of papers on her desk. She thought through the pros and cons of telling the kids, finding more pros than cons. She took a deep breath and told herself she’d listen to her instincts and pay attention to the signs Oliver was giving her that told her he was serious because she was sure he was giving them.

…

That weekend, Felicity parked her car in the small parking lot surrounding the baseball fields. Lincoln unbuckled his seat and tried the door. He huffed when it wouldn’t open.

“Child lock, Links. I’ll open your door.” She got out of the car and looked at the second field from the left, the one Oliver told her to go to. Lincoln knocked on the door and she opened it for him then locked the car.

“Is he playing yet?”

“I dunno. Let’s go find out.” She reached a hand out and Lincoln eyed it for a mere moment before taking it. She squeezed it and pushed down the thought of him one day not wanting to hold her hand. Just as she was worrying they were interrupting a game, Oliver came out of the small bleachers behind first base and waved to them. They gave the outfield and bases a wide berth.

“Is he playing?” Lincoln asked. He looked over his shoulder at the boys on the field as Felicity walked them over to Oliver.

“He’s in the dugout,” Oliver answered. Lincoln frowned. “Over there.” Oliver pointed over to the fenced and covered area behind first base and in front of the bleachers. Lincoln slipped his hand out of Felicity’s and made a move to go over to William but Oliver stepped in front of him. “Sorry, Link. It’s for players only. We can talk to him through the fence though. They’re batting right now. He’s up in a few pitches.” That’s when Oliver was met with two identical looks of confusion. “Do you not know baseball?” He deflated a little.

“Um. I’m not well versed on the rules or vocab,” Felicity answered. Oliver chuckled and waved a hand to the first bench on the bleachers. He sat down in the middle saving ample space for the two new additions. Lincoln plopped down beside Oliver. William turned around in the dugout and waved.

“Hi, Link,” Will greeted.

“Did you finish that house?” Link asked. Felicity and Oliver shared a look of confusion.

“No. I had homework and I didn’t do enough chores to get enough time on Minecraft.” Their looks of confusion turned into smiles. “Did you build that ship?”

“It’s not finished yet. I still have the armory to do.” Felicity’s eyes widened. Oliver raised his brow as if to ask if she knew. She shook her head.

There was a clank of something hitting metal and William’s team jumped up off their bench with cheers. William twisted around and clapped. Felicity and Lincoln followed Oliver’s loud cheers.

“What are the rules?” Lincoln asked watching the pitcher pitch a ball to the catcher while one of Will’s teammates tried to hit it. Oliver carefully pointed out each position and explained the rules as the game played out. Felicity listened but didn’t make any noises or nod like Lincoln. “Ohhh,” Lincoln said rapidly nodding his head when Oliver used an analogy that worked with him. Felicity smiled, her eyes meeting Oliver’s over Link’s head. Oliver grinned over at her before he went back to explaining the way a pitcher makes a pitching choice with the catcher.

When William’s team was back on the field, a woman came up to the trio. Felicity looked over at Oliver hesitantly. He frowned at Felicity’s worried face, having his back turned to the woman Felicity didn’t know. She pointed with her eyes and he turned.

“Samantha,” he greeted. Felicity smiled nervously.

“Can I talk with you?” Samantha asked. Oliver nodded and with a look at Samantha’s serious face, stood up and followed her behind the bleachers and a few feet away from eavesdropping ears.

“What is it?” Oliver asked with a slight frown.

“When did you start dating?” Oliver sighed and looked at his feet before looking back up to meet Samantha’s eye.

“About six weeks ago.”

“And you decide it was okay to introduce her to our son?” Samantha accosted. Oliver shook his head.

“No. That’s not how it happened. William met her when I met her. We met at the gym. William’s told you about Lincoln, I’m sure.” Samantha’s chin lifted at the mention of the boy.

“Her son is Link?”

Oliver nodded as he said, “Yes. And we haven’t told the kids we’re dating yet.” Samantha narrowed her eyes. “They just see us together when they have play dates, which has only happened a few times.”

“Does William know you’re thinking of dating one of his friends’ moms?” She crossed her arms over her chest. Oliver swallowed and started to shake his head.

“I hadn’t thought of asking that.” He shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Well what if this backfires, Ollie? What then? You ban William from seeing a friend? How is that fair?” Oliver glared at her.

“What makes you think this will backfire?” he hissed.

“Every relationship backfires with you,” she snapped. Oliver clenched his jaw and took a deep breath.

“That’s not fair. I’m working hard at being a good dad, and a good co-parent. I want this relationship with Felicity to work. I really like her and I’m pretty sure she really likes me. She enjoys William and I enjoy Lincoln. I’ve changed, Samantha. I’m not the stupid kid you knew. You’ve seen me the past two years-.”

“I’ve seen you in two relationships that have both ended in-.”

“One,” Oliver cut her off. “Ended because she didn’t approve of you and Will moving to Star City. I ended that because I cannot be in a relationship with someone that won’t care for my child. The other one ended on good terms. It wasn’t anybody’s fault it was circumstance.” Samantha let out a cold chuckle.

“That’s what they all say.”

“No,” Oliver snapped. He breathed out hard and ran a hand through his hair. “It was a mutual ending, if anything she dumped me. She was a cop and she was shot, Samantha. She had to go to Coast City to live with her sister so she could recover. I offered to visit and facetime but she didn’t want to be put through a long distance relationship.” Samantha eyed him for a moment, her eyes slowly releasing their narrowed tension. She saw the truth on his face, the pain, and she looked at her feet.

“Sorry. I just assumed…” Oliver nodded sharply.

“Yeah well, we know that saying.” Samantha looked over at the field, just barely seeing it through the stands. She sighed before turning to look back at Oliver.

“Look, I just. It’s past experience that has me saying this, Oliver. William has only ever met one of my boyfriends. Will loved him and so did I, but it ended.” Oliver nodded solemnly. “He broke both our hearts. Will was five. I promised myself I wouldn’t ever introduce William to someone I was seeing until I knew for certain it was serious.”

“We’re keeping it from the kids until we both come to an agreement that we’re ready to tell them. And we’ve already agreed that the kids being friends is the top priority. They get to be friends as long as they want, no matter how it ends with us.” Oliver felt his chest tighten at the thought of it ending badly with Felicity. She made him feel lighter than he’d felt in years. She didn’t look at him with regret or past filters, she just saw him.

“Okay. I won’t say anything. Just. Try and die down the longing looks if you’re trying to keep it secret.” Oliver’s ears heated. “William should be up to bat.” She walked away without looking back.

Oliver took a moment to ease his heartbeat. He never liked these types of conversations with Samantha, they set him on edge. He rounded the corner and saw Felicity cheering for William as he stepped up to the plate.

…

William and Lincoln were busy talking through a certain level of Spyro, which Oliver remembered playing with Tommy when they were teenagers but this was a newer version. Felicity was messaging Ray, for just a second because the kids were occupied. So Oliver collected William’s bat bag. He shoved William’s helmet in the bag and slipped his bat into the side pocket. Samantha came over and asked William to change out of his cleats. Felicity immediately put her phone in her purse and hovered next to Oliver like they were tied together with an elastic band.

“Mom, this is Link,” William introduced. Samantha waved and said a soft hello. Lincoln smiled then flicked his eyes behind Samantha to Felicity. He made his way over rather quickly and grabbed Felicity’s hand. “This is Ms. Smoak,” William added motioning to Felicity.

“Call me Felicity. It’s nice to meet you,” Felicity said waving at first before ditching that and putting a hand out to shake. Samantha smiled kindly and shook her hand.

“I’ve heard at lot of good things about your son,” Samantha said. Felicity smiled brightly and looked down at Lincoln who blushed at the compliment.

“Yours is extraordinary,” Felicity replied. William beamed at her compliment.

“Thank you,” Samantha said.

“Here, Dad.” William handed over his cleats and grabbed his shoes in exchange. “Am I going home with you or Mom?”

“Your mom. You’ll be with me on Monday.” William nodded as he tied his shoes.

“So we’re not getting ice cream?” Lincoln asked disappointedly. William stretched his mouth and widened his eyes.

“I didn’t tell him that! We don’t do that, Mom,” he covered. Lincoln frowned.

“But you said-.”

“Nope! Come on. Let’s go, Mom. I’ve got a math packet I’m supposed to finish.” William tried to grab hold of his bag but Oliver held it firmly.

“You don’t get ice cream after games with your mom?” Oliver asked raising a single confused eyebrow. William looked around, anywhere but his parents.

“William,” Samantha scolded. Felicity didn’t know whether to laugh at the awful excuse which reminded her so much of Oliver or step away and let them talk it out.

“So ice cream?” Link asked again.

“We can get ice cream after dinner, Link,” Felicity said. Lincoln huffed.

“You know, I can take them to get dinner and ice cream then they can play at my place. Give you a few hours free,” Samantha said. She met Oliver’s eye for a beat and he knew this was an apology for earlier.

“Really?” Felicity asked. She grinned over at Oliver for a moment before jerking her head back to Samantha. “Because I have to look over a project my boss just sent me, that would be great. Link, do you want to go with Will and I’ll pick you up in a few hours?” Lincoln looked a little unsure.

“You can help me with Spryo,” William added. Felicity slowly felt the tight grip Link had on her hand release and then he was standing next to William.

“Yeah, great. I’ll. I have to go over some things too,” Oliver said in a horrible attempt to lie. Felicity pushed her smile down. She caught his eye and he grinned goofily at her. Samantha coughed after a few moments.

“Do you need Link’s booster seat?” Felicity asked. Samantha nodded. The group of them made their way to the parking lot, Oliver dividing first getting in his car and driving away. Felicity waited until Samantha and the kids left the parking lot before getting in her car and starting it. Just when she put the car in gear her phone dinged. She put the car back into park and checked. It was from **Mayor Handsome**.

**_My place?_ **

Her heart sped up and she replied with a quick, **_OMW_**. She added a winky face with the tongue out because she knew it got him to smile.

…

Felicity stopped in front of Oliver’s door and knocked. She’d only been to the loft he shared with his sister once, for a dinner date in where he cooked and she couldn’t help but love the domestically of it all, which alerted her to the fact that she could actually envision a domestic future with Oliver. He opened the door with a straight face before letting her in and pulling a bottle of red wine out from behind his back. Felicity gasped then scrunched up her face. “I have to drive soon.”

“I’m feeding you,” he chuckled. Felicity narrowed her eyes. Oliver pouted his bottom lip out slightly and tilted his head in response. She snatched the bottle out of his hand.

“Come to momma,” she whispered. Oliver chuckled at her. He went into the kitchen and brought two wine glasses and a wine opener to Felicity on the couch. “What’s the topic of discussion?” Oliver paused at her question looking like he was caught red handed. “Expensive wine and food usually leads to a big discussion.” Oliver started to uncork the wine. “Unless you work differently than girls, which you probably do, so I’ll wait for you to pour me some wine so I can stop talking and-.”

“Felicity,” Oliver gently said. She looked at him from under her eyelashes. “I do want to tell you some things. And… it would be easier to do it over wine and food.” She nodded but looked bewildered. He poured her a healthy amount of wine. She swallowed down her usual excited noises. She had a feeling this talk may not go so well.

“What’s the topic?”

“Me.” Felicity tilted her head and felt the need to release some of the tension in the room.

“What about you? Your abs because I’ve seen them and they are… amazing,” she squeaked out the last word. Oliver swallowed, completely serious and placed the bottle down on the coffee table.

“I wasn’t always a good guy, Felicity,” he softly said bowing his head in shame. She nodded, silently asking him to continue. “I’m sure you know from gossip sites or word of mouth how much of a… dick I was.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “It took my father dying, and even then I wasn’t completely changed. I ran across the world stopping here and there to just see what a country was like. I’d take up a random job and make a life but I couldn’t settle. I never could. I went to several different countries trying to find where I fit in and when I realized I didn’t, I drowned myself in women and booze. I was… dick doesn’t even cover it, Felicity,” he sighed.

“I know you’re not that person anymore, Oliver,” Felicity said. Oliver smiled and finally met her eye for a moment before looking down at their hands.

“I started to become the person you know after Thea got in a car accident when she was seventeen. I rushed home after a call from Tommy. Then while I was home.” He shook his head. “I realized Thea and my mom needed me. Then my mom convinced me to start working for QC. On one of the first days, I found a file from my father addressed to me. He told me how he’d done wrongs to the city and to his family. He said he wasn’t always a good man and he wanted me to be better than him, to right his wrongs.

“I didn’t know how to do that. But I knew partying and running wasn’t the answer. So I started to work a lot. Then the quake happened and my mom…” He shook his head. “I’m just glad she came to her senses in the end. It took Thea and I a long time to forgive her, and just as we did, someone killed her in revenge.” He let out a shaky breath.

Felicity remembered the news stories detailing her death that circulated for months. At the time, most people sympathized with the killer who’d lost their whole family due to Moira Queen’s involvement with the undertaking, but once the public found out how she died, protecting her children from a brutal attack, they felt differently.

“Oliver,” Felicity whispered painfully.

“I was mourning and I got fired because the Queen name wasn’t good anymore. For a year, I lived off my trust fund and traveled again. But on one visit home, Thea finally convinced me to run for mayor. I didn’t think anyone would want me. I’d been reckless for so many years. But no one else was willing to run, after the last two mayors being kidnapped or shot. I didn’t think I had any way of stopping that from happening to me, but I wasn’t afraid. And during my campaign, my campaign manager found a discrepancy in my past with a woman, named Samantha Clayton. I told him it wasn’t an issue, she’d miscarried, but that’s when he showed me pictures of William.” He let out his breath and shook his head tears forming in his eyes.

“I flew out to Central City that evening and contacted her over the phone. She was surprised to hear from me, but when I told her that I was running for mayor of Star City and I found out about my son she just started to apologize. I felt horrible, Felicity. But her apology just made me feel worse, because I missed seven years of his life and _she_ was apologizing to _me_. We set up a meeting, just us, before I met William. She explained that my mother had given her a million dollar check to tell me she had miscarried. She never cashed it, but she kept the check.”

“Oh, Oliver.” Oliver bit down on the inside of his lip and avoided Felicity’s eye.

“I had no choice but to believe it, especially when she showed me the check signed by my mom. I was angry but mostly I just wanted to get to know William. I wanted to be the father my dad wasn’t. I wanted to be there for all the baseball games, take him to his first hockey game, be there for each birthday and holiday, and really just get to know him. It wasn’t easy at first. Will… Will called me Oliver for a year. Then one day he just started to call me Dad.” Oliver smiled happily at the memory. He met Felicity’s eye. “I just want you to know. I haven’t always been a good guy, but I’m trying to be one now, for William and… you.” Oliver held his breath, worried it was too soon for that.

Felicity felt the air in her lungs leave for a second. Her heart beat skipped, she was sure. Oliver started to look unsure as her silence grew so she ran her palm against his stubbled cheek and pressed a kiss to his lips. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She pulled away a little reluctantly but he just nuzzled her nose with his.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Oliver smiled, opening his eyes. He felt his chest expand with emotion and he wanted to say those three words, but Felicity pulled away to grab her wine and smiled around her glass as she sipped it. He decided it was too soon. She squeezed his hand and turned around to cuddle back into him.

She let his words sink in as he drew shapes on her forearms. He trusted her enough to tell her about his past; he _wanted_ her to know about his past. She felt something settle in her chest and just knew this was the right time.

“What do you think of telling the kids?” she whispered watching his hands stop moving. She turned around to face him again and he met her eye. There was surprise and excitement evident on his face, but a mixture of confusion crossed by. “I want to tell them,” she said firmly. Oliver felt a sense of relief flood him. He’d been waiting for her to say when.

“Only if you’re ready to be my official girlfriend,” he said in reply. Felicity’s eyes roamed across his face before she smiled at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

She nuzzled his nose and murmured, “Ready, official boyfriend.” But she furrowed her brow, bit her lip.

“What?” Oliver gently nudged her nose in question. She closed her eyes and pressed their foreheads together.

“That sounded weird,” she softly admitted.

“Why?” he almost sounded hurt. She opened her eyes and caught his gaze for just a second before she tucked her head in his neck.

“I haven’t had an official boyfriend since Link’s father.” Oliver frowned as he rubbed her back. “Not that I haven’t been in relationships since then. Well not any long term relationships. Never reached the label stage. But…” She sniffled and then went stiff in his arms until she let out her breath in a sigh. She shook in his arms and he felt wetness on his neck. His heart broke. “That was a screwed up relationship,” she choked out. Oliver made a questioning noise and pressed a kiss to her temple. She took a few deep breaths trying to reign in her control. “It wasn’t screwed. Cooper just… it ended badly.”

“Sorry,” Oliver whispered. Felicity whimpered during a hum and relaxed in his arms. She stayed curled around him for a while, just silent.

“We were in a hackavist group. The two of us and his roommate. But Cooper ended up going to jail and I found out I was pregnant and everything just…” She trailed off and Oliver wasn’t going to push for more. She didn’t push him when he spoke, so he figured he’d give her the same courtesy. “I was too young and too broken to make the choice of having Lincoln, but I’m glad I chose him. He’s been… everything to me.”

“I’m glad you chose him too. He’s a great kid,” Oliver said. Felicity hummed appreciatively. They stayed cuddled together sharing stories about their pasts. When they finished their wine and moved on to lighter subjects, Oliver pulled leftover lasagna for dinner from his warming drawer.

They went over logistics on how they’d tell the kids about them. Oliver suggested they bring up the subject that they were dating someone first, then over lunch as a group they’d tell them they were dating each other. Felicity agreed immediately. It wasn’t until she was helping him clean the dishes which he insisted she not do but she insisted she _had_ to, that her eyes flicked to the clock on the wall.

She wiped her hands on a tea towel and mumbled incoherently to herself. He raised his brow. She placed a hand on his chest while she lifted onto her toes. “Your baby mama’s had my kid on sugar too long.” Felicity pecked his lips. He quickly snaked a hand around her waist to prolong their kiss. She made a pleased noise causing him to smile. “Seriously, Link on a sugar high is soo not fun,” she mumbled against his lips. Oliver pecked her lips one more time before releasing her.

“Tell Will I’ll pick him up from school on Monday.” He trailed after her as she collected her heels and purse. He served as a pillar for her to hold on to for balance as she slipped back into her shoes. He bent down to kiss her again which caused her to laugh. He wrapped her in his arms stealing another kiss.

“Babe,” she said as they broke apart. “Link will cause chaos.” He sighed in disappointment loudly but internally buzzed at the term of endearment she used. She slapped a kiss on his cheek then skipped to his front door. He chuckled as he followed her. Just as she started to close the door behind her, she winked at him. He broke out into a big grin at her botched attempt. Each time she winked at him, he fell a little bit harder for her.  

In a happy daze, he went back to his dishes. As soon as he started to rinse the first dish, his door opened. “You forget something?” he called out.

“Nope, just live here,” Thea called back. He felt his cheeks flush. “Was it date night?” Thea sang strolling into the kitchen.

“Yes, actually.” A love struck smile appeared on his face. Thea jumped up and sat on the counter.

“What’s the news?” she asked. Oliver wrinkled his brow. “This.” She waved her hand in front of his face. “This is Happy Oliver, like Intensely Happy Oliver. So what happened? Finally get laid?”

“Thea,” he warned.

“What? Just asking.” She raised her hands in surrender. “No but seriously, what happened?”

“We’re going to tell the kids,” he quietly said a big smile covering his face.

“Seriously?” He nodded. “Finally!” she shouted.

“It hasn’t been that long, Thea.”

“Ollie, you’ve been talking _nonstop_ about her and going on so many lunch dates and coffee dates. You’re practically always on your phone which is a huge change because just a few months ago you only looked at your phone because Will was texting or calling you. You’ve fallen head over heels so, _yes_ , it’s a big deal that I won’t have to keep this secret from everyone.”

“Keeping this secret?” Oliver snorted. “You’ve told practically everyone. Diggle, Quentin, Laurel, Tommy, Sara, should I continue?”

“I mean people who aren’t in the inner circle, Ollie. Plus Will. Do you know how many times he’s asked me why you’re smiling at your phone or who you’re talking to? You’re lucky I’m a good liar.” Oliver rolled his eyes at her.

“Yes well you’ll have to keep the secret until next weekend. That’s when we’re going to have lunch and tell them.”

“I hate you.”

“You love me, Speedy.”

“Not as much as you love Felicity,” Thea sassed. Oliver paused and his ears turned red. “Ha yes!” Thea threw her head back and cheered. “I _knew_ it. You’re _in love_.”  

“Not a soul, Speedy.”

“Yeah, yeah. Ollie and Felicity sitting in a tree,” she finished the song much to the annoyance of her blushing brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on this story, truly! So don't give up on it. Some exciting things are going to happen next.

**Author's Note:**

> I have one of the ending chapters but I need to get all the middle chapters. It depends on time management and muse, don't hold your breath but also don't lose hope.  
> Tumblr: [arrow-insta-fakes-au](https://arrow-insta-fakes-au.tumblr.com)


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